Sat. Nov 23rd, 2024

For Immediate Release: 09/24/2012

Contact: Lisa Castetter 949-769-6670 x25, lisa@teenleadershipfoundation.org

Teen Leadership Foundation Celebrates 5th Birthday

Newport Beach, CA – September 24, 2012 – Teen Leadership Foundation (TLF), a Newport Beach-based 501 C3 non-profit serving all of Southern California and the Pacific Northwest will be hosting a 5 year Anniversary Concert with local artists at Rock Harbor in Costa Mesa on November 9th, 2012.

“When I started TLF 5 years ago, our goal was to provide leadership equipping programs for at-risk foster teens ,” said TLF’s Founder and CEO Lisa Castetter. “During that time, more than 1,200 teens have gone through our summer 3 day leadership camps and several hundred are now matched with a long term adult mentor as they head into emancipation. We are grateful from the support we have received and looking forward to the next 5 years and beyond for TLF.”

We are anticipating over 300 guest attendees as we celebrate 5 years and honor founding board members and high level volunteers.
“TLF started out with 30 campers, “said TLF Founder and CEO Lisa Castetter. The community saw the statistics of aged-out foster teens and rose to the need; together we have provided long term life change for teenagers in foster care in and around Southern California for 5 years.

Each year 24,000 foster teens emancipate out of the foster care system.

 In California, 65% of youth leaving care do so without a place to live.
 Studies found that between 44 – 77 % of emancipating youth have completed high school as compared to 93% of non-foster care youth.
 Research shows that only 1% to 5% of foster youth ever graduate from college.
 Within 2-4 years of emancipation, 40% of emancipated youth have been on public assistance or incarcerated by that time.
 Girls who emancipate from foster care are approximately 3X more likely than their peers to have a child by 19.

About Teen Leadership Foundation – Teen Leadership Foundation offers support and guidance for teens prior to exiting the foster care system. It is our goal to address the needs of the youth’s in-order to change the statistics they fall under. Our programs provide avenues in which the teens can enter the adult world having a support basis surrounding them. Through our weekend camp program the teens can develop a relationship with a stable adult figure to become a positive role model and a life-long mentor. The camp begins to help foster teens acquire solutions and trust through team building exercises and rope courses that also assist them in building confidence and self esteem.

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Art Pedroza Editor
Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

By Art Pedroza

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

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