The Real Word

Voices for Children’s “Real Word” is a speakers panel comprised of youth and young adults who currently live or have lived in foster care after being abused, neglected, or abandoned by their parents or caregivers. At their presentations, Real Word panelists are open and forthright about their experiences in foster care, such as what it’s like to move from home to home, how it feels to be separated from siblings, and how they coped in the face of adversity.

The Real Word panel is trained and supervised by Voices for Children, and participants have spoken both locally and nationally about life in the dependency system. Each panelist has been inspired by the caring support of the volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) assigned to them by Voices for Children. CASAs advocate for a foster child or sibling group in court, in school, and in the community, and are responsible for countless successes and positive outcomes in the lives of at-risk foster youth. The Real Word provides an educational, eye-opening experience that both celebrates CASA volunteers and communicates the vital need for more volunteer advocates.

All events are free but a limited number of seats are available.

IMPORTANT UPDATE

The COVID-19 pandemic and its potential impact on our community — including the children we serve, our volunteers, and our staff — is of great concern to us at Voices for Children. In order to do our part to prevent the spread of illness in our community, we have canceled the Real Word event that was scheduled for March 25, 2020, and are evaluating future planned Real Word events.

Our staff is looking into opportunities to share our youth's experiences with you remotely. Please check back here for updates as the situation progresses. If you have any immediate questions or concerns, please contact us at info@speakupnow.org.