Month-long event shows importance of Fostering Success Program and its students

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PCC / News / April 19, 2017 /


Month-long event shows importance of Fostering Success Program and its students

Photos and Story by James Hill |

The month of May is National Foster Care Month, and PCC’s Fostering Success Program is celebrating.
In conjunction with students and community partners, PCC is hosting events throughout the month to raise awareness about the issues facing children, youth and adults with a history in foster care. The college is running a crowdfunding campaign, “Fostering Success EverydayHero,” to support staffing and services key to the success of the program and its students.
Lisa J. Feinics, Fostering Success Program coordinator.
Program Coordinator and former foster youth Lisa J. Féinics wants these events to engage others in a positive way.
“Awareness is about more than knowing all the negative aspects of foster care,” Féinics said. “Unfortunately, we are inundated all the time with sad stories or negative statistics about foster youth. I meet current and former foster youth all the time who inspire me with their resilience, compassion, and powerful commitment to achieve – not in spite of their past, but because of it. It is sometimes difficult for people to understand that foster care experience shapes character in good ways, too. That’s why we are going to focus on positive transformation during May.”
Amanda Johnson, a Tualatin High School graduate, knows the importance of National Foster Care Month. She was put into the system in eighth grade following a fight involving her biological family. DHS was called, and her five siblings as well as herself were separated and placed into foster homes. They had lived with her father and stepmother, who struggled with drug and alcohol addictions.
“Their addictions meant that my siblings and I experienced years of moving, dozens of school changes, lack of basic food, and even homelessness,” Johnson remembered. “After going into foster care and eventually being ...

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