WASHINGTON
–
Despite
tremendous
odds, April
Vance overcame
a difficult
youth as
a foster
child. Her
success
stemmed
from an
ability
to stick
to her dreams
and focus
on education.
Most importantly,
though,
Vance credits
her skillfulness
in navigating
the government’s
complex
and sometimes
frightening
foster care
system.
Now
Vance, a
senior broadcast
journalism
major at
Howard University,
is on the
brink of
finding
a way to
use that
knowledge
to help
kids maneuver
the roadblocks
she once
faced. While
other seniors
on campus
are job
hunting
and fine-tuning
resumes,
she is in
the first
year of
starting
a nonprofit
organization
called the
Advance
Project.
The mission
of the District
of Columbia-based
organization
is to instill
self-esteem,
self-love
and a drive
for education
in foster
care youth.
“A
lot of times
foster care
youth are
displaced
and they
are moved
around from
home to
home,”
Vance said.
“When
that happens,
education
is always
on the back
burner.
The focus
is on surviving
and having
a roof over
your head,
or having
a family
that wants
you.” |
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April
Vance |
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The odds are typically
stacked against
foster care youth
receiving a solid
education. Sometimes
foster youth go
to work as early
as age 14. She cites
nationwide statistics
that show low percentages
of foster care youth
completing high
school and college
studies. Foster
children are at
a higher risk of
homelessness, incarceration,
alcoholism, drug
addiction, prostitution
and suicide, she
says.
Vance
is intimately
familiar with
the foster care
system in her
hometown of San
Jose, Calif. Her
father, a construction
engineer and former
Black Panther,
died when she
was 6 years old,
leaving behind
Vance, an older
brother, Rashaun
and her mother
to cope. As a
result of the
death, her mother
suffered a mental
breakdown and
began to struggle
as a parent. Child
care officials
in California
stepped in, placing
Vance and her
brother in the
foster care system.
At
the time, Vance
was 8 years old;
her brother, Rashaun,
was 10. They bounced
around to eight
different foster
care homes in
the area—sometimes
together, sometimes
apart. At age
11, Vance refused
the entreaties
of prospective
adoptive parents
who sought to
take her in without
her brother. “I
didn’t agree
with it,”
Vance said. “They
didn’t take
us—thank
God for that.”
Keeping
Her Eyes on the
Prize
She
and her brother
lived in a children’s
shelter during
their teenage
years. Throughout
the years, she
and her brother
had little contact
with their mother
who was working
to show the courts
that she had the
ability to take
care of the two
siblings. During
this period, she
increasingly saw
education as the
gateway to living
the life she wanted
to live.
“It
was my escape,”
she said. “It
was going to allow
me to be the person
I wanted to be.
I remember sitting
in the front of
the class in high
school. I wanted
to always go home
and study before
I got on the phone
and played around.
I never gave up
on it.”
At
a college fair,
Vance and her
brother heard
the pitch of a
recruiter representing
Howard University.
Vance remembers
the recruiter
bragging about
Howard students.
“He called
Howard students
the cream of the
crop,” she
said. “I
told myself ‘I’m
going.’”
Vance
wasted little
time finding opportunities
at Howard. In
2009, she volunteered
at the White House
as a communications
liaison. The volunteer
position turned
into a part-time
job last year.
She has also toured
the country this
fall with Chris
Brown and Young
Money’s
TYGA Tour. She
works with the
educational component
of the tour, called
Roar, which surprises
20 high-performing
high school students
in each tour city
with free tickets
to the concert,
new Nike or Adidas
shoes and other
small gifts.
Giving
Back and Reaching
Forward
As
a Howard student,
Vance also volunteered
locally as a mentor
to foster youth.
She focused on
education, always
aiming to show
how education
could be the key
to opening doors
for them.
Vance
also kept close
ties to the Silicon
Valley Children’s
Fund, the California
nonprofit organization
whose scholarships
made it possible
for Vance to attend
Howard. Many of
the group’s
benefactors are
corporate donors
in the computer
industry. In her
junior year at
Howard, the organization
asked Vance to
become a spokeswoman
and a board member.
In her position
on the board,
she learned how
a nonprofit works.
She
used the knowledge
to develop the
Advance Project,
which she formed
seven months ago.
Vance is president
of the organization.
The Advance Project
provides mentors
for middle school
and high school
students in the
foster care system.
Currently, the
organization is
helping 62 students
from Maryland,
the District of
Columbia and Virginia.
Students also
work on building
resumes and get
instructions on
professionalism.
The
students also
get lessons that
only another survivor
of the foster
care system can
provide. For example,
Vance has given
the participants
a talk about healthy
relationships.
“I
know a lot of
them want to reconnect
with family, but
not all family
is up to par,”
she says. “We
can love our family,
but sometimes
we have to love
them from a distance.”
April
Vance can be contacted
at AprilVance100@gmail.com,
or www.AprilVance.blogspot.com
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