Twinspire understands the insurmountable odds that youth from low-income backgrounds and foster care system face. Educational inequities and barriers impact many students, but those who are pushed out and marginalized are disproportionately experiencing the harmful effects of disparate policies, procedures, and lack of support.
About Twinspire
Mission
We advocate, empower, and educate marginalized young adults and foster youth by equipping them with financial literacy & life skills so they can pursue educational and career opportunities.
Vision
We envision a world where underrepresented young adults and foster youth seek and attain higher education, pursue meaningful careers while inspiring their peers to develop and cultivate financial literacy.
Our Values
- We believe in education as a fundamental right.
- We believe in providing knowledge that can be used to transform lives, communities and generations.
- We believe that everyone deserves a loving family, mentor, and community to support and empower them.
- We believe that in order to resolve the low educational outcomes of marginalized youth, they must be involved in the construction of programs and policy/system change.
- We believe that no one should fear becoming homeless.
The "Why" of Twinspire
Who We Serve
Across the United States, there are approximately 440,000 foster youth. There are more than 55,000 foster youth in the state of California alone, and 35% of all California foster youth are living in Los Angeles County.
Additionally, 1 in 217 Angelenos live one check away from homelessness. Twinspire is a non-profit organization that inspires young adults to pursue higher education and become financially stable.
Twinspire serves as the nexus for non-profits that serve low-income students including foster and adopted youth. We aim to connect our participants to organizations that serve these populations so that our participants have the opportunity to serve and develop others who have gone through similar challenges.
Foster Care Facts and Figures
- Foster youth were disproportionately impacted by homelessness while they were in high school.
- On average, foster youth do not achieve a 2.0 GPA in their first year, which is the minimum required GPA to maintain most forms of financial aid.
- Foster youth change schools far more often than other students.
- Twice as many foster children repeat a grade.
- Foster youth have the lowest graduation rate.
- Foster youth are twice as likely to drop out of school as their peers.
In California and LA County,
- 50% of youth who exit foster care will develop a substance dependency.
- 60% of all young adults who aged out of foster care end up incarcerated or homeless.
- There are 7,091 students in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) who reside in foster care.
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Emergency Funds Needed!
Our goal is to inspire marginalized and foster youth to fulfill their personal, professional, and academic goals. Your gift will support programs that help youth navigate these troubling times, graduate high school and college, and gain the support they need from professionals with similar backgrounds.