We created the Dare to Dream program (for youth ages 15-22) and Dare to Dream Jr. program (for youth ages 11-14) to provide one-on-one mentorship to youth in care. Our mentors are advocates, guides, role models, valued friends, and available resources who guide youth in their accomplishment of developmental milestones through intentional giving, relationship building, and mentorship.

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​​WHY YOUTH IN FOSTER CARE NEED YOU

​Young people who have grown up within the foster care system have experienced instability in their lives and often disproportionately suffer with learning disabilities, limited life skills, health issues, and emotional and behavioral struggles that lead to negative developmental outcomes. Youth who age out of foster care without having been adopted or reunified with their families have less financial, emotional, and social support than their peers, yet they are often expected to be as self-sufficient as those who have familial support and guidance. This lack of assistance and resources combined with the various traumas these youth have experienced negatively affects their success and overall well being. As a result of having to overcome a childhood of abuse and neglect, removal from their parents, unstable living arrangements, multiple foster placements, and weak support systems, youth who age out of care enter young adulthood without a healthy foundation upon which they can build their futures and work to break the generational cycles that affect youth in care. 
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​THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN

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​​The heart of the Dare to Dream program is to walk alongside youth as they navigate through life's challenges. The youth in our Dare to Dream program need the wisdom, advice, encouragement, and community that mentors can provide. Mentors meet practical and emotional needs as well as provide guidance through developmental milestones. The goal is for youth to be engaged and to feel supported and equipped to navigate life. A mentor commits to meeting with the youth every other week to set goals and help them achieve their dreams. These relationships will hopefully last a lifetime, but the program is a year commitment. Mentors matched with a high school student are strongly encouraged to stay with the youth until high school graduation. Mentors must also be at least 22 years old to apply.

We tell mentors that the simple act of telling their youth “I believe in you,” “You are special,” and “You are going to do great things” can change their path completely.

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Watch the video below to hear from a Dare to Dream mentee, Tyler:

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​​Watch the vaideo below to hear from a Dare to Dream mentor, Rebecca:

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​THE STATE OF FOSTER CARE
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Our Dare to Dream program provides youth with the resources and relationships they need to learn life skills and secure a job as well as a place to live.

We encourage our youth to "Dare to Dream" about all that they could become while providing the educational tools and mentoring they need to reach their goals.

​We provide opportunities for youth in foster care to learn tools and gain skills that will help prepare them for a successful future.

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MENTORS PROVIDE GUIDANCE THROUGH
​DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES SUCH AS:

Obtaining a driver license

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Building healthy relationships

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Post-graduate plans

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Creating healthy habits

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​PROGRAM DIVERSITY

​​We serve children, youth, and families as well as recruit volunteers from all backgrounds within our local community, regardless of religion, marital status, ethnicity, age, financial status, gender identity, or sexual orientation because:

We believe everyone deserves and can benefit from deep, meaningful relationships. 

We believe in being bridge builders, connecting over a shared passion of improving the foster care system through a community-based approach. 

We believe that every child, youth, and family experiencing foster care deserves to be fully seen, heard, and supported by healthy, affirming, and lasting relationships.

We believe that every single one of us has a role to play in changing the way children, youth, and families experience foster care, and that it will take a diverse community with varying backgrounds, experiences, and identities to do this.

We believe in elevating the voices of those who are experiencing foster care and using their lived experiences to guide what it means to provide intentional support.

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​TEXAS INSTITUTE FOR CHILD AND FAMILY WELLBEING TO CONDUCT PROGRAM EVALUATION OF NATIONAL ANGELS

National Angels has contracted with the Texas Institute for Child and Family Wellbeing (TXICFW) to explore the impact of services. After receiving years of anecdotal feedback to attest to the effectiveness of National Angels’ programming, TXICFW will conduct a rigorous program evaluation of the Austin, Texas chapter to identify the core program components that can be replicated in other areas. The hope is to use findings to expand trauma-informed services to foster families and build evidence of service effectiveness.

The Texas Institute for Child and Family Wellbeing is located within the School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin.  They use their research and training expertise to engage in a joint learning process with practitioners and agencies to build the foundational knowledge that best serves children and families. Their researchers have direct practice experience working with families in crisis.  They utilize their real-world experience to focus on improving outcomes for children and families in many areas of child welfare, including foster care and adoption, Latino immigrant families, child maltreatment prevention, and adolescent sexual health.