 A little while back I had the pleasure of working with the Maryland Foster Youth Resource Center located in Baltimore, Maryland. The MFYRC is a non-profit organization created and operated by former foster youth working to assist those current & former foster youth in attaining life skills and identifying & accessing resources needed for survival and positive development The foster care process obviously can be an extremely difficult one for children. In an effort to help ease their stresses, as well as help communicate this process of entering foster care and going through the juvenile court system, the MFYRC decided to do something fun, entertaining and positive. So we joined forces to create a coloring book that could aid and hopefully comfort them. The coloring book, titled "Where Do We Go From Here?", is targeted towards the younger of these youth and illustrates the story of two kids, Keysha & Jamal, who are siblings going through the same situations as many of the young children reading the book itself. In this way they can identify with them and use their story as guidance through the various steps of the foster-care system.  Not only does it tell Keysha & Jamal’s story but it also includes activities that help to educate them on certain main characters involved in the process, important vocabulary used, a section to hold onto important business cards, a place where they themselves can tell their own story and even a “Candyland-like” board game in the middle for them play. And of course they can color any and all illustrations in any manner they’d like.
This is still a very meaningful project for me. It's one I hold dear and one I’m very proud to have been a part of. I truly hope in someway it’s helped to positively touch the lives of those children who happen to be holding it in their hands during such a challenging moment. I hope it gives them a little comfort and brings a smile or two. If you'd like to know more about the Maryland Foster Youth Resource Center you can visit them online at www.mfyrc.org. Thanks everyone, I'll talk with you soon! - D
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