ADVISORY: Rep. Gara to Speak at First-in-Nation Foster Parenting Forum

MEDIA ADVISORY
November 1, 2013

Rep. Gara to Speak at First-in-Nation Foster Parenting Forum

Friday forum to promote foster parenting in Alaska

On Friday, Representative Les Gara will speak at the "Fostering Hope Forum", which aims to educate Alaskans about adopting foster youth to help them find permanent homes. 

"Children deserve loving families, and shouldn’t be bounced between homes and schools just because they don’t have parents who take care of them," said Gara, a former foster youth who has worked to push successful reforms through the Alaska Legislature.  

The conference also aims to educate families about taking in foster youth, and the many needs and challenges Alaska’s roughly 1,900 foster youth face. 

Nationally known foster care advocates at the forum include Rhonda Sciortino, an author and radio host who travels the country trying to improve the lives of foster youth.  Gara (D-Anchorage) will join Sciortino to discuss the demand for adoptive and foster parents and ways the community can help improve the lives of our foster youth.  At 7 p.m. country singer Jimmy Wayne will perform at Faith Christian Community Church, for a donation of a $20 gift card, or new, unwrapped toys, which will be donated to foster youth and families for the Christmas and holiday season.

"The Alaska Fostering Hope Forum is the first in what is hoped to be a nationwide movement to educate, inspire, promote and recruit churches, families, and communities to invest in the lives of children who are in foster care and at-risk families," said Chris Scott, who is helping organize this forum, and has worked to improve the lives of foster youth for many years. 

For more information and to register for the forum ($20 per person or $30 per couple), visit www.fosteringhopeforum.org or call Chris Scott at 907-243-1777, ext. 41.  

WHAT:             Fostering Hope Forum with Rep. Gara panel discussion

WHEN:             8:30 – 4:00 p.m., November 1, 2013

                            12:40 p.m. – Rep. Gara panel discussion

WHERE:           Wayland Baptist University

            7801 E 32nd Ave, Anchorage, Alaska (MAP)

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