Preparing Youth for Adulthood (PYA)

Little Flower aims to level the playing field for foster youth and provide skills and opportunities for success as well as impart the skills to handle the day-to-day responsibilities of adulthood.  The Preparing Youth for Adulthood (PYA) program enables us to nurture and develop valuable life skills and foster self-esteem in our youth through inventive services and programs to empower them socially and economically and to develop the resiliency and self-confidence to succeed once they age out of care.

PYA is offered to foster youth, ages 14-21 and consists of workshops and exercises on topics such as personal finance, budgeting, and banking, insurance and leases, job preparedness, resume writing, job interview prep, taxes and filing tax returns, college applications, financial aid, grocery shopping, nutrition, balancing social activities with obligations and more.

Youth also have the opportunity to participate in site visits (banks, DMV, etc.)  in which staff walk them through and teach them how to complete applications for critical documents (passports, etc.) and programs.  They can also participate in extracurricular activities, such as:

  • Computer Labs: thanks to support from the Dream R Us Foundation, our young adults have access to computer labs to help with homework, practice resume writing, conduct online job searches, complete school applications, and more.
  • The Emergence ProjectSM: The Emergence Project (TEP) is an innovative 12-week professional development and leadership program for youth ages 16 and up. Youth participate in weekly workshops, and upon completion, they are eligible to participate in a six-week paid summer internship.  By providing young adults access to business leaders, TEP develops the skills necessary for successful entry into the ‘working’ world, helping to empower foster youth to reach their full potential.  Applications are currently being accepted until 1/27/2021.
  • R.O.Y.A.L. (Recognizing our Youth as Leaders) Coaching: A long term support program provided to youth ages 14 and up.  Youth are matched to a coach who provides interactive support throughout their life experiences.  Middle school are also provided additional support to meet their academic needs.