“As someone who grew up in foster care, family is fluid. Family is chosen, family is a village. Family is not necessarily being bonded by blood, but being bonded by circumstance, having someone there when you need them the most.” — Excerpted from “Unapologetically Family” by Kenyon Lee Whitman.
At Silver Lining Mentoring, we know that youth in foster care have varying definitions of what family means. As part of our ongoing efforts to support youth in foster care and be culturally responsive to their needs, we advocate for individuals to be aware of the privileges that come with having a traditional definition of family and the ways that these traditional definitions disempower and hurt youth in care.
By pairing a young person in foster care with a long-term, committed mentor, we know that we are adding to their systems of supportive adults, no matter how the young person chooses to label these individuals.
