Women's Council seeks volunteers
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

Each of the 42 women who make up the United Women's Leadership Council has found success for themselves.

They've led community colleges, overseen countywide social services agencies and helped organize one of the largest music festivals in the area.

The group of distinguished women has recently come together to help young women leaving the Ventura County foster care system succeed on their own.

But to reach its first milestone of naming 50 founding members, the council needs eight more women to join by the end of the month.

The volunteer council, which formed in April and operates under the umbrella of the United Way of Ventura County, wants to raise $50,000 by recruiting 50 founding members at $1,000 each by June 30. So far $42,000 have been raised.

Founding members can have an impact on strategic decision making because they have voting privileges, said Amy Fonzo of United Way.

"This is the only window of opportunity ever to do this," she said.

They also receive a gold brooch with the council's logo along with special recognition from the United Way.

The council's overall mission is to focus its energies and resources on specific projects for at least three years, particularly those that involve women, by identifying and working with public and private social services agencies to fill gaps in services.

Helping the 25 to 30 foster girls, who each year are cut off from all financial assistance when they turn 18, prepare for a productive life outside of the county system is their first undertaking.

Statistics show a cycle of homelessness, substance abuse, gangs and/or pregnancy awaits many of these young women.

Nationwide, the outlook is equally dismal, with half of all emancipated youth becoming homeless sometime within the first 12 months. According to the Children's Advocacy Institute, of the 4,000 youth leaving the foster care system in California, 46 percent haven't completed high school, 51 percent are unemployed and fewer than 3 percent attend college.

Fonzo thinks the council will be successful helping this mostly overlooked population, because interest has been building since an April article appeared in the Acorn.

As a result, two women, one a Camarillo resident, have volunteered their homes as transitional housing for young women aging out of the foster care system. And a Ventura adult school has offered scholarships to former foster youth.

Those who can't afford founding membership status but who want to help can make a donation of any size and become "Friends" of the council. They'll receive updates on the council's activities and on the targeted group of foster youth.

In addition, groups and corporations can sponsor an individual for founding membership. The Women of Jewelia- a group of 13 Ventura County women who've attracted national attention since 2004 after buying and sharing a $37,000 diamond necklace, is sponsoring Kathleen Morris of Ventura.

"We were really moved by what they were doing," said Morris of the council. "We discussed it and thought it was wonderful and wanted to become involved with it."

The Women of Jewelia's mission of sharing, caring and friendship has come to include fundraising for various causes, and it parallels the council's goal, Morris said. She said a book about Jewelia is expected to be published next spring and a movie may be in the works.

Barbara Fitzgerald, who headed the county's Health Services Agency for five years before retiring in 2003, said she's a founding council member because she's seen firsthand the struggles former foster youth are faced with- lack of transportation, housing, healthcare and employment opportunities.

"It's hard for those kids without adult support," Fitzgerald said. "If we can make a dent in any one of those areas it will be a tremendous help for (them)."

Fonzo said the council's next step will be to establish a mentor program for current and former foster care youth.

For more information on the United Women's Leadership Council or to become a founding member, call Amy Fonzo at (805) 485-6288, ext. 230. Did you know:
+ In Ventura County, there are about 85
females between the ages of 16 and
19 in foster care. Of these young
women, 16 are pregnant or parenting
at this time.
+ It's estimated that 25 to 30 female
foster youth in Ventura County will be
emancipated this year.
+ According to national statistics, 50
percent of youth leaving the foster
system are homeless sometime
during the first 12 months after
emancipation.
- Provided by the
United Way of Ventura County