The NFL has made no secret of its intention for Super Bowl 50 to be its biggest event ever. Philanthropy is a major part of fulfilling this mission, with the league giving $10 million in grants to San Francisco Bay Area nonprofits and charitable organizations ahead of the big game at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara.
First Place for Youth, an Oakland, CA-based organization that provides housing, education, employment and healthy living support to teens leaving foster care, is one of the five local organizations to receive a $500,000 "Game Changer" grant from the NFL's Super Bowl 50 Host Committee.
As part of the grant, NFL players are among the personalities participating in First Place's "When I Was 18" campaign, which aims to raise awareness of how difficult it can be for a young person in foster care when he or she ages out of the system.
Sam Cobbs, First Place for Youth's Executive Director, believes there is a double standard applied to foster youth. Whereas college students who come from stable homes are encouraged to take their time easing into adulthood — including making mistakes — foster youth are expected to "microwave growing up," often without any outside support.
Cobbs is touched by the response the campaign is receiving, particularly from adults who spent time in foster care as youth. The difficulties for foster youth — who are disproportionately black and Latino — have been underrepresented on a national scale. He is particularly affected by one young lady on the organization's website who responded, "Finally... Finally somebody is paying attention."
A First Place for Youth participant shares a smile at his new job.
Julius Harper, a First Place for Youth participant who aims to help other former foster youth through a career in social work and human resources, describes the organization's staff as an extension of his family. "They [were] more than a staff, they were like my best friend... They wanted to know exactly what was happening with Julius."
Without First Place for Youth, which helped Harper prepare for his current job at Wells Fargo, he feels he "wouldn't be ready to pay my bills, to pay my rent on time." But on top of that, the "care factor" exhibited by the organization's committed staff has influenced him to pay it forward, and take on the fight to support foster youth as they are thrust into adulthood without preparation.
Harper understands that First Place is not offering a handout, but a path to self-determination. "If you want something, you go get it... It's just that voice that has to be heard, and it has to be your voice. You have to speak up for yourself."
Deficiencies in foster care is an issue that hits close to home for many NFL players as well. Vikings defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd never spent time in foster care, but was brought up in an abusive home and similarly had to act as an adult earlier than he was ready.
"I fought to be a great person, rather than a product of my environment. A big question I still think about today is this, nobody ever asked me how I was doing," says Floyd, who was out on his own by age 16. "Outside of living, or having a roof, the biggest thing I focused on was growing as a person... I felt like I had to find everything out on my own. You always felt like you were alone. I felt like nobody truly cared at that time in life.
"I'm 24 years old. It took me almost 10 years to find peace. I want foster youth to know it doesn't have to be this way."
Former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner and his wife run a foundation that focuses heavily on creating better outcomes for youth who go through the foster care system. He remembers not knowing how to cook or wash his clothes, and being able to lean on family and friends. For Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith, whose mother's career as a social worker influenced his outlook on this issue, it's pretty simple. "Here are these kids that have been in the system, and then we just cut them loose. Why wouldn't we give them a few more years of help and guidance?
First Place serves over 2,000 youth each year, including over 500 being assisted with housing services. The staff provides mentoring, resume-building and soft skills development, as well as partnering with local community colleges. It has expanded over the last 18 years into six Bay Area counties, and will utilize the NFL's grant to continue building capacity and raising awareness for this nationally relevant issue.
First Place for Youth participants critique their resumes with organization staff.
Titans wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham, who is only 22 and still learning about the intricacies of adulthood, spent time in foster care as a teenager. He and his brother were eventually adopted by his high school football coach, and he can closely relate to the young people First Place serves.
"When I was 18, I felt that I was invisible," Green-Beckham says. "[We] bounced around from home to home. It's tough, because your trust level is different."
Chiefs linebacker Tamba Hali, who was placed in the system after moving from war-torn Liberia as a child, experienced culture shock on top of the normal struggles of navigating foster care. "Coming out of foster and just being thrown into the world, it's a rude awakening."
According to FosterClub, there were over 415,000 kids in foster care in 2014. Some states have had the political wherewithal to extend foster care to age 20 or 21, but that's a drastic number of rude awakenings to comprehend.
The "When I Was 18" campaign also includes testimonials from actors such as Danny Glover, Tony Goldwyn (Scandal) and Robin Weigert (Concussion). CBS, which will air Super Bowl 50 on February 7th, will feature the work of First Place for Youth as part of its coverage before the game.
Cobbs is thrilled to be able to leverage the NFL's presence in the Bay Area to raise awareness of the difficulties foster youth face. "It really is a movement we're trying to start."
