Arizona nonprofit helps aged out foster kids pursue higher education

At the age of eight Jason Lewis was placed into the foster care system and would go on to move 28 times by the time he turned 18.

Lewis’ father battled with substance addiction and was removed from his father’s care. There were no other family members to take him in. Lewis lived in group homes and even moved from state to state since he was required to go wherever there was open availability. 

“Obviously bouncing around has a lot of conflicts with keeping friends. So that was always an issue for me and growing up,” Lewis said. 

Stability wasn’t something Lewis experienced growing up. 

“I lived in Oklahoma, I’ve lived in Colorado, I’ve lived in California, I’ve lived mainly here in Arizona, but I’ve been everywhere,” he said. 

The Department of Child Safety provided Lewis with resources, while he was in high school, and that’s when he learned about Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation (AFFCF). 

Lewis joined AFFCF’s Keys to Success, a mentorship program for foster kids ages 16-26. He would meet with his mentor and learn about financial literacy and college and work opportunities.

At the age of 14, Lewis was in the process of being reunited with his father, but his father took his own life before they had the chance to reconnect. Lewis said he went into a downward spiral and struggled in high school. At one point he had a 1.2 GPA, he said. 

But Lewis found a way to keep pushing forward, he worked with mentors for guidance and began to attend church and grew his faith.

How does AFFCF help foster kids aging out of the system?

Through AFFCF he learned about resources that would help cover the cost of college tuition.  Certain scholarships and funding are available to kids aging out of the foster care system from other organizations and even the state. 

The group offers scholarships to young adults who age out of the system in order to help cover the cost of tuition and fees.

Luis De La Cruz is the President and CEO of AFFCF, as a child he was also in the foster care system. De La Cruz knows firsthand the hurdles that young adults like Lewis face once they age out of the system. 

De La Cruz was luckier than most because he was adopted by a family and would go on to pursue higher education.

“I have this vivid vision of being at ASU and what happens in Arizona is that when the academic year ends, at least in the universities, so does your ability to stay in the dorms. Because the expectation is that you’re going to have your parents waiting in that car line waiting to pick you up to take you home during the summer. What happens when a kid has nobody waiting to take them home?, ” De La Cruz said. 

Young adults who age out of foster care face an uphill battle since the majority of them don’t have a built-in support system. Only 70% of foster care kids complete high school and a staggering 97% will not complete a post-secondary degree, according to AFFCF’s website. 

Lewis is part of the small percentage of foster kids who pursued higher education, he saw the opportunities that AFCCF offered and knew it was a chance he couldn’t throw away. 

“I joined college just because I didn’t want to be homeless, that was my best shot at continuing to survive. When you first hear that you can go to college for free, that’s anyone’s dream,” Lewis said. 

He went on to receive a full-ride scholarship to Grand Canyon University (GCU) and is able to live in the dorms year-round, while being able to work and save money. He is studying Christian Studies with a minor in business. 

Lewis is now 20, and is scheduled to graduate from GCU in 2027.

His hope is to start a nonprofit to help kids who are aging out of the foster care system and offer the mentorship and guidance he needed growing up. 

He said without AFFCF’s support, it would have been challenging to attend college.

De La Cruz said statistics show that 2 out of 4 foster kids who age out of the system end up homeless. He said AFFCF steps in to help young adults like Lewis because the organization wants to be that support system to help them succeed. 

“There are people that jump over those barriers or go around those circumstances like Jason does and I think what is important to know is that it really does take a village,” De La Cruz said.

“It really, really does and I think that’s a really key thing because even with all the incredible superpower that he brings, his enthusiasm, his skills, his intelligence, his personality. We all need help.”

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Reporting by “Arizona Horizon” Education Solutions Reporter Roxanne De La Rosa. Her role is made possible through grant funding from the Arizona Local News Foundation’s Arizona Community Collaborative Fund and Report for America.

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