The Fostering Dreams Foundation

Growing up both the foster system and athletics had a huge impact on my life.

My story begins when I was four years old and took my first gymnastics class. I instantly fell in love. Throughout the years, I played a few different sports such as ice skating, soccer, and basketball, but my true love was gymnastics. I competed competitively until the age of 12. Then I switched sports and became a diver.

Diving opened so many doors for me. After my freshman year of high school, I moved away from home to train with one of the top coaches in the country. Three years later diving opened another door for me: college. I got accepted into the university of California, Berkeley, to dive. It was a dream come true. Over the past two years I was part of the Women’s Swimming and Diving team and achieved one of the greatest accomplishments possible at the collegiate level; qualifying for the NCAA Championships. To top it all off, our team won a national championships that year! It was a dream come true.

My story seems like a success story; and it is- but that is only one side of the story. There is another side that is not always told.

When I was eight my parents and I opened our hearts and home to a young man in the foster system. Our family of three became a family of four practically overnight. Josh was twelve when he met our family, and had been in and out of the foster system for years. His transition into our home was not an easy one. Structure and consistency were not qualities he was familiar with. There were a lot of fights and arguments. As Josh struggled to join the family, I struggled to figure out my new place in the family. There were times I felt so lost and confused with the constant change in my life. Athletics became a place of escape for me- it filled the hole I was feeling. It provided me with a sense of consistency and purpose when home life was hard.

Over the years, Josh moved in and out of our home multiple times. Watching this at such a young age was heartbreaking and gave me a completely new perspective on life. Today, Josh is back in our lives. He took charge of his life, enlisted in the army, and just returned from his first deployment. Our family could not be more proud of him.

I founded The Fostering Dreams Foundation because I believe every child in the foster system deserves the opportunity to participate in athletics. Statistics show involvement in athletic activities lead to so many benefits in areas of behavior, identity development, and school performance which are critical problems youth in the foster system are facing. Athletics help provide a brighter future, and every child deserves a chance at a bright future! Lets give these children a chance together!