The mission of Our House, a Washtenaw County nonprofit, is to help young people (14-25 years of age) successfully transition from foster care to adulthood. We're building a unique, integrated model to support youth typically lacking the experience of growing up with supportive adults in their lives. Through individual and team mentoring, life skills training, camp retreats, employment training, and ultimately supportive housing options, Our House builds upon each component to help assure successful outcomes. _________________________________________________________________ Even with a strong support system, not all young adults are prepared for an independent life at age 18…or even at 21. So imagine the hardships that youth in foster care face as they try to prepare for a normal, productive life. They typically have no one to cheer them on when things get tough, no one to help them fill out college applications, no one to give them advice on how to interview for a job or talk to a coworker, no one to show them how to shop for groceries or do laundry. The statistics are sobering: • Only 58% of youth who have left the foster care system had a high school degree at age 19 compared with 87% of a national comparison group of non-foster youth. • About one in five former foster care youth were homeless for one or more nights within a year after leaving foster care. • The unemployment rate among youth who left foster care was 47%. • About 25% of former foster care youth experience post traumatic stress. This is nearly five times that of the general population and exceeds the rates for American war veterans. • One in four youth who have left foster care will be incarcerated within the first two years after leaving the system. What if we could offer a different outcome? Our House takes an optimistic and assertive position. We are confident that our community has the interest, focus and resources to support youth in their transition from foster care.