Elevate (organization)
Encyclopedia
Elevate is a youth-driven foster care
Foster care
Foster care is the term used for a system in which a minor who has been made a ward is placed in the private home of a state certified caregiver referred to as a "foster parent"....

 program that was started in the summer of 2005 in Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...

 as a support group for foster
Foster care
Foster care is the term used for a system in which a minor who has been made a ward is placed in the private home of a state certified caregiver referred to as a "foster parent"....

 and adopted
Adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...

 youth. It is a program of Children & Families of Iowa, a nonprofit organization serving at-risk children and families in Iowa.

Elevate's mission is to inspire others to new levels of understanding and compassion to the life connection needs of foster care and adoptive teens by sharing their personal stories of hope.

About

While Elevate originated in Des Moines, there are now chapters throughout the state of Iowa. Locations of chapters can be found on the Elevate website.

Elevate's activities include numerous types of advocacy
Advocacy
Advocacy is a political process by an individual or a large group which normally aims to influence public-policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions; it may be motivated from moral, ethical or faith principles or simply to protect an...

. This includees training and empowering youth to advocate for themselves and others, educating legislators and other decision makers, developing partnerships to help youth successfully age out of foster care and encouraging others to open their homes to foster teens.

Membership includes current and former foster youth, adoptees from the foster care system and the biological children of foster and adoptive parents. Foster care alumni, social workers, foster and adoptive parents and juvenile attorneys function as supports for the group, but the majority of the decisions are made by the members or their governing council, the ECC. The ECC is composed of members elected by their peers.

Elevate is best known for personal stories and passionate speakers, but also includes artwork, poetry and other writing. Any foster or adopted person or the child of foster or adoptive parents over the age of 7 can become an artist for Elevate and any one in these categories over the age of 13 can become a poet, speaker or writer for Elevate.

Elevate has had members speak at a number of different events around the country including dozens of events within the state of Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

, and events in Seattle, Washington; San Antonio, Texas; Washington DC; St. Louis, Missouri; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Columbus, Ohio and Atlanta, Georgia.

Elevate projects

Elevate projects are designed to provide its members with a means of self expression while bringing awareness to the needs of foster and adoptive youth. Travis Lloyd is an Elevate member, and former Elevate chapter facilitator, who developed the elevate: Desire to Inspire music and poetry CD, as well as a video called Voices of Youth. These two projects are used as educational tools in university classes, social work trainings, and foster youth conferences. Elevate projects, poetry, and stories of foster youth are available on the Elevate web site.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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