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May is National Foster Care Awareness Month — a time devoted to recognizing the resilience of youth in foster care and the essential position all of us play in supporting their journeys. For many of those younger folks, stepping onto a university campus is not only the beginning of a brand new chapter — it’s the beginning of a brand new life. That’s why Move-in Day Mafia exists: to make sure foster youth aren’t simply seen throughout their faculty transition however really supported.
New Rooms, New Beginnings
For many, faculty is a time of firsts — first style of independence, first actual shot at shaping a future, and first steps right into a world of chance. It’s a season of discovery, pleasure, and the fun of the unknown. For many first-generation faculty college students, these feelings run even deeper. But for younger folks rising from the foster care system, the expertise is usually marked by a completely completely different actuality: survival.
Imagine stepping onto a university campus carrying each belonging you personal in a single backpack. No mother and father to assist arrange your dorm. No household to ship you care packages. No blueprint for find out how to navigate this brand-new world. Just hope — and the sheer will to succeed in opposition to the percentages.
“Only 3–4% of youth who age out of foster care ever earn a college degree — Move-in Day Mafia is determined to change that.”
The hurdles dealing with foster youth are staggering. According to The National Foster Youth Institute, solely about 3–4% of youth who age out of foster care ever earn a university diploma. Many by no means even get the possibility to enroll. The causes are as heartbreaking as they’re complicated: unstable housing, lack of economic sources, emotional trauma, and an absence of dependable grownup assist. Even after overcoming these obstacles to succeed in a college, many foster youth discover themselves remoted, ill-prepared, and overwhelmed.
That’s the place Move-in Day Mafia is available in.
Move-in Day Mafia exists with a robust, clear mission: to make sure that college students from the foster care system aren’t forgotten as they step into faculty life. Their work begins with the fundamentals — turning naked dorm rooms into protected, welcoming houses. A easy consolation like an actual mattress, a desk stocked with provides, or a closet crammed with necessities can imply the distinction between feeling like an outsider and believing you belong.
For a few of these college students, a dorm room is the primary steady place they’ve ever known as their very own. It’s their sanctuary, their launchpad, and their first actual style of what it means to dream with out limits. And but, with out assist, even one thing as fundamental as a furnished room can appear out of attain.
More than a Makeover
Through its involvement with Move-in Day Mafia, Cisco helps bridge that hole. Beyond offering monetary assist, Cisco has mobilized its staff and sources to straight uplift these college students — serving to to furnish dorm rooms, provide know-how wants, and make sure that no pupil walks into faculty empty-handed.
An inspiring instance of this dedication is Cisco’s ongoing assist for the “Adopt a Scholar” program. Through this initiative, Cisconians come collectively to buy care bundle objects for college students getting ready to start their faculty journeys. These care packages are crammed with necessities like bedding, toiletries, faculty provides and even private notes of encouragement. It’s a collective effort that brings the Cisco neighborhood collectively in assist of recent beginnings, sending a robust message to every pupil: you might be seen, you might be valued, and you might be supported.
Together, Move-in Day Mafia and Cisco are ensuring that these younger folks — who’ve already confronted extra adversity than many do in a lifetime — have a basis to construct on. They’re sending a message that somebody believes of their potential, that they don’t seem to be alone, and that their desires are legitimate.
For each pillow positioned on a mattress, each lamp arrange on a desk, each laptop computer linked to Wi-Fi represents a brand new starting. A contemporary begin. A method ahead. Because each baby deserves the possibility to not simply survive faculty — however to thrive.
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