Kathryn’s Story

You can help Orangewood Foundation become a reassuring presence in the lives of nearly 2,000 current and former foster youth like Kathryn each year!

Helping former and current foster youth overcome the various challenges they’ve faced is the reason Orangewood Foundation was formed. Each year, we work with nearly 2,000 youth, helping them overcome the various challenges they’ve faced by providing basic needs, housing, life skills & employment, and education.

We’re particularly proud when an Orangewood youth not only overcomes the challenges they’ve faced, but achieves goals far beyond what they expected. Kathryn is one such youth.

When Kathryn was just six years old, she and her four siblings were removed from their parents’ care and placed in foster care. The family didn’t have much money and all seven shared a studio apartment. Kathryn’s father had anger issues and would beat his wife repeatedly. The sounds of her mother sobbing would often wake Kathryn up in the middle of the night. The abuse finally stopped when her older sister, Julie, called the police.

Kathryn’s mother eventually regained custody of her five children, but times were still tough. It was hard for her mom to find an affordable apartment with lots of kids and no husband. They moved at least once a year and her mother, who has only a second grade education, struggled to provide for her family.

It was during this time that Orangewood Foundation came alongside Kathryn’s family and became a reassuring presence in their lives. Over the years, Kathryn and her siblings have each benefited from many of the services that Orangewood provides, including scholarships, the Orangewood Resource Center, independent living workshops, and more.

Even though Kathryn attended three different high schools, she excelled academically and was accepted to UC Riverside, later transferring to UCLA. She recently began her senior year at UCLA, with a major in Asian Studies and minors in both Global Health and Korean. After continuing on to graduate school, her career goal is to work in the field of public health.

For Kathryn and many other current and former foster youth, the holiday season can be tough. “After we were reunified, my mom tried to celebrate Christmas by putting up a tree and decorating but it wasn’t the same anymore. Because we spent the holidays apart the year my parents got divorced and my siblings and I entered foster care, the ideal family holiday was shattered for us,” Kathryn explains. “I remember as a child, I would love sitting in the car while my mom ran errands and staring at other family’s Christmas lights and decorations.”

The only Christmas presents Kathryn and her siblings received growing up were from Orangewood Foundation. To this day, her family does not celebrate holidays. Today, with Orangewood’s financial assistance and guidance, Kathryn is a senior at UCLA, majoring in Asian Studies with a double minor in Global Health and Korean. She celebrates the holidays with her friends from school in lieu of celebrating with family.

Orangewood’s donors play an important role in the journey of each current and former foster youth we work with. Charitable support helps our youth overcome a variety of challenges while learning how to embrace their skills, talents and abilities. Please consider how you can help Orangewood youth, whether through a first time or renewed gift, and make your gift below