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The Art of Ambition: Jaya's Growth with Pivotal Support
Jaya’s Pivotal journey began when she started high school. Seeking support to navigate her way through high school and prepare for college, she learned about Pivotal from her foster mom and joined the program in her freshman year.
“I’m lucky in that I have had a lot of support from my foster mom and others in my support circle. But it’s great to have my Pivotal Coach, Daisy, who can specifically help me with academics.”
Daisy has been working with her since her...
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Social Work Month 2025: Thanking our Social Work Interns
March is Social Work Month, and we want to celebrate the current and future social workers who support our students. Social workers play a critical role in the child welfare system and are often an important part of our scholars’ lives.
In 2010, Pivotal created an internship program to help new social workers-in-training learn about the nuances of working with foster youth. We train undergraduate and graduate students in social work programs to be Pivotal coaches, working...
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Thank you Dream Makers!
Last month, we came together to celebrate members of the Pivotal Dream Makers Circle and corporate partners. The Dream Makers Circle is a special group of supporters who contribute $3,000 or more annually to Pivotal. These generous individuals ensure that we can serve every foster youth who walks through our doors and help make their dreams a reality.
Our scholar speaker, Dunhoja demonstrated how important this help can be:
You can watch all of Dunhoja’s powerful speech below.
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Read moreThe Road Less Traveled
Ever wonder why at Pivotal, we refer to our coaching support after high school as our post-secondary program rather than our university? It’s because there are many paths to success and self-sufficiency, and they don’t always involve a traditional 4-year university degree. Many students choose an associate’s degree from a community college, or pursue a trade or vocational program after high school.
Since the pandemic, there has been a huge increase in demand for...
Happy 2025 from Pivotal!
Happy New Year from all of us at Pivotal! Last year, we celebrated 35 years of helping young people from foster care build the lives they want for themselves.
In the 2023-24 school year, we served 532 young people from foster care, providing support in high school and college through individualized coaching, trauma-informed support, resources, and scholarships. We also began serving students in middle school, knowing that the earlier we can start to work with...
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Pivotal Celebrates 35 Years of Service
In early October, we invited our donors, partners, alumni, and staff to come together to celebrate Pivotal’s 35 years of service in our community. Starting with building the Santa Clara County Children’s Shelter, Pivotal has dedicated itself to the support and well-being of young people from foster care in our community. We’d like to acknowledge and thank everyone whose support allowed us to serve thousands of children and young adults, at a critical time when they needed...
Read moreFrom Setbacks to Success: How Pivotal Helped Michelle Find Her Path
When sharing stories about our scholars and their experiences, we often tell you about young people who have been through the system and have found success through their hard work and with Pivotal’s support. It’s important to remember that their journey to that success is often filled with struggles and uncertainty for many of our scholars and it can be difficult for students to open up about the difficulties they may be experiencing in the moment.
When post-secondary...
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EDUCATION NONPROFIT LEADERS URGE STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS TO SUPPORT FOSTER YOUTH HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION SUCCESS
The Foster Youth Pre-College Collective Releases “Destination Graduation” Report; Underscores Foster Youth Challenges and Promising Practices That Successfully Impact Academic Progression
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (June 4, 2024) - Deeper investment in highly relational one-on-one services will close the persistent gap between the high school completion rates of youth in the foster care system and other K-12 students, according to a new report, Destination Graduation: Investing in the...
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Thank you for supporting us this National Foster Care Month!
National Foster Care month is over and what a month it was! Here at Pivotal, we packed a whole lot into a short time.
The incredible Delrisha White hosted three live podcast events where Pivotal alumni, scholars, and staff shared their experiences. Here are just a few quotes:
I not only had someone that could be there for me academically, but I also had someone that was close to my age and was able to understand me, help me make decisions, personal or academic, because I...
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Catalysts for Change - Thanking our Social Work Interns
March is Social Work Month, and we want to celebrate the current and future social workers who support our students. Social workers play a critical role in the child welfare system and are often an important part of our scholars’ lives.
In 2010, Pivotal created an internship program to help new social workers-in-training learn about the nuances of working with foster youth. We train undergraduate and graduate students in social work programs to be Pivotal coaches, working...
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Making the Most of a Second Chance - Catching Up with Diana
Diana Urias loved school when she was young, but when she was placed in foster care, she felt that love waning as she struggled with her mental health and began engaging in more and more risky behavior. After a drug overdose, several moves, and some time in juvenile detention, Diana realized she had to make a change. She began to focus on school again, eventually graduating and starting at community college where she found Pivotal. “I expected the program to be temporary, like every...
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The Sisterhood of Resilience: From Separation to Support
Losing their parents to drug and alcohol addiction motivated sisters Mary and Ruby to build healthy and fulfilling lives to help themselves and others.
For Mary, the path to healing began with strengthening her own body and mind. Her father had been a track and field runner, but she didn’t see him in that light, as a strong athlete, because his addiction had stripped that away. It inspired her to become a runner herself, breaking track and field records in middle...
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