The young lady sitting on the couch is Lataya. She is one of Roots & Wings’ very first FLY graduates and is now an ABC News producer.
With a $100,000 grant from Impact100 Garden State in 2016, Roots & Wings created a FLY (Facilitating Life Skills for Youth) case management program for aged-out foster youth. The funds primarily provided salaries for the two new staffers—a part-time volunteer manager and a FLY program manager— who implemented the program expansion.
This funding was transformational for Roots & Wings, allowing the organization to increase client capacity, broaden geographic reach, and expand programs and services. In addition, Roots & Wings was able to double the number of aged-out foster youths served through case management services. Roots & Wings generally has a long waiting list of young adults seeking to participate in its residential program, RISE (Residential Independence Self-Sufficiency and Education). The FLY program expansion enabled Roots & Wings to shorten the waitlist by offering practical and effective services to young adults who were more suited to the FLY program.
Lataya, who graduated from the FLY program and from Montclair State University secured an internship at ABC News, then was hired full time as an assistant, then assistant producer and is now a producer. The additional case management and support that was provided to her from Roots & Wings—a direct result of Impact100 Garden State funding—has helped her to reach her true potential.