LISA GUILLETTE, executive director of East Providence-based nonprofit Foster Forward, was recently presented with the Rhode Island Foundation’s 2024 Murray Family Prize for Community Enrichment. Guillette directs a statewide nonprofit organization that supports teenagers and young adults who are currently or were formerly in the foster care system. With the honor, Guillette received $50,000 in recognition of her commitment to helping Rhode Islanders in need.
What does receiving the Murray Prize mean to you? Receiving the Murray Prize is a profound honor, and I’m deeply humbled to join such an extraordinary group of past recipients. This recognition is truly a reflection of the collective efforts of our board and staff at Foster Forward. We strive every day to ensure that young people who have experienced foster care are truly seen and well supported. I have worked at Foster Forward for 21 years. This acknowledgment from the Rhode Island Foundation and the Murray family validates my life’s work in a way I cannot properly put into words.
What do you plan to do with the $50,000 monetary gift? This award quite literally affords me the opportunity to give back to Foster Forward while honoring the boundless love that my parents and other members of my family have poured into me through the years. My mother graciously offered to match my gift, and together we are establishing the Guillette Family Legacy Fund through the Rhode Island Foundation. My father dedicated his career to the education of students with disabilities and we have many family members, past and present, who work in helping professions as physicians, nurses, teachers and social workers. It is our hope that Foster Forward will use the annual disbursement toward staff recognition and professional development support.
Foster Forward has raised more than $200,000 in each of the last three 401Gives Day events. What initiatives have been established at the organization as a result of that additional funding? The 401Gives donations have funded our acquisition and development of new units of affordable housing for the young people we serve. … Since 2021, we have purchased three multifamily properties with nine units we rent directly to [youths]. In 2022, with support from the Rhode Island Foundation and together with One Neighborhood Builders, Crossroads [Rhode Island] and Family Service of Rhode Island, we acquired a 3-acre property in East Providence and are building 144 units of affordable one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.
What challenges remain regarding children in foster care, and what is Foster Forward doing to help address those challenges? [Youths] in foster care face other systemic barriers, including completing their education and gaining meaningful work experiences that help them build successful careers. Only half of young people who age out of foster care earn a diploma or GED [certificate] by age 19. Foster Forward has worked with [youths] to co-design and co-deliver Works Wonders, a nationally recognized model of career exploration and workforce development. The program offers on-site GED [certificate] classes and boosts youth employment by 138%.
(UPDATED 3rd paragraph to include additional comment from Lisa Guillette.)