Catholic Charities Dallas’ International Foster Care program provides foster care and independent living placement to Unaccompanied Refugee Minors in the Children’s Services program, primarily aged 14 to 21.
This week, our International Foster Care program held their Summer Life Skills Camp for unaccompanied refugee and immigrant youth in our care. The camp is a unique opportunity to provide our young adults with lessons about life skills they’ll need to become confident and independent members of our society.
At the camp, Catholic Charities Dallas staff members shared presentations on a range of skills from care safety and maintenance to navigating the classroom and emotional intelligence. The youth also enjoyed presentations from community volunteers, including local police and fire departments.
Along with staff and volunteer presentations, the young adults also had the opportunity to hear from current and former youth in our Supervised Independent Living (SIL) program. Isabel Tomas Felipe, a current SIL participant, shared her personal story of how the program has impacted her life, and how it has given her the tools she needed to become the person she is today.
“I realized that it was an opportunity put on my path to help me succeed,” Felipe said. “It gives me the support I need.”
Felipe said she has a better life because she stayed in the program, and she was excited to share that experience with children currently in foster care.
Fernanda, a foster care youth in the program, said she was excited to attend the camp and learn more about possible job opportunities. She shared that it meant a lot to hear from Felipe.
“It’s nice to hear about other people’s lives and experiences, other people going through the same things you do. It makes you feel like you’re not the only one,” Fernanda said.
While there were plenty of opportunities to learn, there was also time for fun during the Summer Life Skills Camp. Foster youth were able to get to know one another and bond through spending time together playing games and having fun!
Catholic Charities Dallas’ Children’s Services program hosts the life skills camp twice a year—a two-day camp in the spring, and the three-day camp in the summer.
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