Current News
Foster children focus on self-sufficiency
The Gazette
by Patricia Murret
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Jonathan Bell of Gaithersburg recently graduated from Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda. He played varsity lacrosse and was drum line co-captain. The 19-year-old is headed to Montgomery College and talking to recruiters about joining the Marines.
But the path to a solid future has not come easy for Bell, who has lived in seven group homes and foster families since age 11.
“I’ve been through so much,” he said. “It’s been a tough time for me, being around people I didn’t know, being homesick and stuff.”
Bell moved into a Rockville apartment with a roommate this month. He joined the FutureBound Independent Living program run by the independent nonprofit National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda, said Cynde R. Burgess, county child welfare supervisor. The program is a top choice for teenagers aging out of the child welfare system.
“This is not just a free-for-all, although some youth may see it as that,” said Burgess. “Some have been asked to step back from the program.”
The goal is for teenagers to develop skills they need to be successful working and living on their own.
Art and Soul Auction to Aid Children’s Center
The Washington Post – Thursday, June 11, 2009
The National Center for Children and Families presents its seventh annual Art and Soul charity auction at the Music Center at Strathmore from 7 to 10 p.m. tomorrow.
Proceeds will support the construction of the Freddie Mac Foundation Youth Activities Center, the cultural arts and recreational facility on the Bethesda campus of the children’s center.
A live auction, hosted by broadcaster JC Hayward of WUSA (Channel 9), will feature works by youths from the Greentree Adolescent Program at the children’s center and by local artists, including Kari Minnick and Ellen Sinel. A silent auction will feature “gifts from the soul” (non-art items) and juried pieces from other regional artists.
Tickets for the event, which is the center’s signature fundraiser, are $150 per person and can be purchased by contacting Heidi Coons at 301-365-4480, Ext. 114.
