UW-Stout Fostering Success was the recipient of a $1,000 cash donation as part of the WESTconsin Credit Union Challenge, a special incentive program for the Community Foundation of Dunn County’s (CFDC) 25th Anniversary.
This program, sponsored by WESTconsin Credit Union (WCU), offers fundholders who open a new endowment fund at the CFDC this year the opportunity to give a $1,000 donation to a local charity of their choice.
Jon and Martha Hove recently opened a new fund at the CFDC and chose UW-Stout Fostering Success as their WESTconsin Credit Union Challenge recipient. Both Jon and Martha said fostering is something near and dear to their hearts, as they have family members who at some point in their lives were not living with their parents. Those family members relied upon the good people around them to lift them up during tough times, and eventually went on to graduate college.
“I looked at the recent numbers of foster kids who don’t graduate college and I thought ‘man that is a very distressing number’,” Jon said. “It’s clearly an area that needs more attention.”
UW-Stout Fostering Success provides guidance and resources for youth who have been in foster care, homeless or orphaned and have an interest in pursuing higher education. They are also advocates for other campuses in developing their own Fostering Success Programs.
Gail Mentzel, trio student support services and Fostering Success advisor said three percent of students who identify as having had out-of-home living experiences do not graduate college. However, the Fostering Success program retains roughly 80 percent of their student base.
“This program works,” Gail said. “These kids can do so well when supported, so that’s why we do this.”
Angie Ruppe, director of UW-Stout Fostering Success, went on to say that the $1,000 donation will replenish funds removed from the Fostering Success Foundation account that had been used to hire student staff and mentors for the fall semester.
The WESTconsin Credit Union Challenge will run through the end of 2020. To find out more about how to open a fund at the CFDC, please contact Executive Director Georgina Tegart at 715-235-8019.