In seventeen years, FCNI has served 1,672 foster children/youth with an 85% overall success ratio.
 




A Mentor's Story - LIFE LESSON
"I now see my internship as a personal growth experience in which I helped to better the life of one teenager and her family."

My internship at the Family Care Network has been a life changing experience. One of my case assignments was to provide a short-term, stable, mentoring relationship to a teenage girl named Serena. On our first meeting, Serena and I went to the park, played frisbee and talked about things like our favorite movies, sports and music. Each week Serena and I would do an activity outside of her house because her mom was not comfortable having us remain in the home. I remember one afternoon a few months into my internship when Serena and I were deciding where to go to play a board game I had brought. Her mom piped in saying, “Why don’t you play here? There’s plenty of room.” This was a pivotal moment in our relationship because it showed that her mom finally trusted me enough to have me stay in her home.

When I first started my internship, I saw it as a great way to gain experience about the Human Services while fulfilling my internship requirement I needed to graduate from Cal Poly. I now see my internship as a personal growth experience in which I helped to better the life of one teenager and her family. Even though my obligation to continue seeing Serena ends in a few weeks, I have decided to become her mentor for the next year until I finish college. I have seen Serena’s mom be a great example to her children by going back to school, talking about voting and showing them unconditional love. I know this family will go on to do great things and I am blessed to be a part of their lives.

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