Imagine turning 18 and no longer being part of a protective system as a foster child.

When a child is in foster care, they are with a family until they are 18. When they age out, they are expected to know how to manage their lives. Many don’t.

But resident Virginia “Ginny” Paulsen has found a way to help those young people. She and her husband, Randy, started a non-profit, “Foster Your Future,” to help the young adults.

Paulsen said when the kids age out of the system, they get little in the way of help to start their lives.

“They get a couple of bus tickets, some clothes that fit in a little bag and some money,” she said.

They lack basic life skills, such as knowing how to drive, having the proper credentials to find a job or how to make a budget.

Foster Your Future, Inc. is an Arizona-based, non-profit, 501(c) 3 charitable organization that assists these individuals in bettering their future through career and college by providing housing, food and support in all needed areas to access a job, career and educational advancement.

Paulsen said as she approached 60 years old, she felt a need to give back somehow. She explored different things she was interested in and discovered she enjoyed working with foster children who were living in foster group homes. She worked with young men 15 to aging out.

“I started asking questions about what happened after they leave,” she said. “Every answer I received saddened me. That is when I decided to make a shot at helping the young adults that have aged out of the foster system become independent, successful adults.”

She now has a cadre of volunteers who work with the young people.

“They develop good relationships with the young people,” she said. “But we are not counselors. We listen, and we guide, but we don’t want to have them hold back from doing their best.”

Volunteers help the young adults build self-sufficiency and success by assisting with housing, furniture, clothing, credentials needed to work and obtaining a driver’s license.

“We teach them skills to help them navigate through life a little easier than they had been doing,” Paulsen said.

The Paulsens fund 90 percent of the programs of Foster Your Future. Ginny said in the beginning (2015), she didn’t feel comfortable asking for donations.

She added that without the generous commitment of time and resources from the many volunteers, the charitable organization could not be sustained.

The work the organization does comes back tenfold, Paulsen said.

She cited an example of a young woman who reached out to Foster Your Future for help. She wrote the following:

“They’ve (FYF) welcomed me with open hands and arms. It was never just hello it was a warm embrace of hope and that feeling that I am not alone. Being in this program has allowed me to gain not only stability but an amazing support system that many of us aged out youth lose after leaving the system.

“We are left without guidance, resources and homes. No money for food, clothing or hygiene. This is where Foster Your Future, one of the only resources in Arizona that I know of that helps aged out youth over 21 like myself.

“I’m beyond thankful and I always ask Mrs. Ginny how can I ever pay you back she always replies ‘When you have your degree, that’s enough payment for me now go achieve greatness’ there is no better feeling in the world. This program has changed my life. Thank you!”

To become a mentor or to donate to the organization, call Paulsen, 602-478-5850, or email her at ginny@fosteryourfuture.org.

More information is available at fosteryourfuture.org.