Alexis Fodor

Professor Bottiglieri

Educ 111

11/9/19

Advocacy Project – Child Welfare

For this project I have chosen to write about child welfare. I have always had a soft spot

for struggling children. When I was in high school I wanted to be a social worker because I

thought it was the only way to reach children in need. I, since then, have realized that there are

more ways to find those kids. In my experience working in the education system, I’ve found that

struggling kids are everywhere; they all have their own individual struggles. Some have

academic struggles, financial struggles, family struggles, and the list goes on and on.

I currently volunteer every Thursday at a local youth program with a church for

teenagers. I also run a week-long summer camp program for children between 3rd and 12th

grades. In the past few years we’ve really taken a push toward bringing in kids that haven’t

experienced a summer camp before, or may not be able to afford that kind of experience. I think

it’s really important to give kids a chance to have new experiences, a safe and fun environment,

and also give them things to look forward to. I plan to continue to put effort into these projects;

especially now that I know more specifics about just how in need kids are. Another thing that I

plan to do is to support my friends and family that are in the process of, or even thinking about

becoming foster parents/adoptive parents. I am not in a stage of life where I could fully support a

child, but I can send encouragement and support to those that I know are. All kids deserve to

have families, safe homes, and a community of supporters.