Staying Afloat: A Lifeline for Foster Youth

“Sometimes success feels like staying afloat,” says Briana, a former foster youth describing her uphill journey. At 18, “emancipated” from foster care, and just six months into college, she found herself with nowhere to go when the dorms closed for winter break. With no supportive family and no program like Pivotal’s then in place, Briana spent that holiday on a couch, distraught and unsure of what the future would hold.

Today, young people like Briana have Pivotal, which provides a lifeline for youth in and from foster care. “We serve young people starting as early as their eighth-grade year of middle school all the way through the completion of a bachelor’s degree or vocational credential,” explains Ashley Matysiak, the organization’s director of program partnerships. 

Pivotal has been providing education and employment support to foster youth for over 35 years. In the critical years when foster youth “age out of the system” and are often cut off from services and funding, Pivotal is there investing in their education, their well-being, and their future. Pivotal’s trauma-informed, one-on-one coaching program pairs students with professional coaches who act as trusted guides through every phase of their education.

These coaches offer far more than academic help. “People heal from trauma through relationships,” Matysiak notes, and Pivotal’s model builds precisely that. Coaches check in regularly, talking through school progress, social stresses, and long-term goals. 

Pivotal also tackles the invisible weight of childhood trauma. “Mental wellness is directly connected to everything we do,” says CEO Matt Bell. Coaches receive intensive training to recognize distress and connect youth with resources. In 2024, the organization established a Mental Health Fund that provides for counseling and assessments, ensuring that once students age out of the system and public supports vanish – they can still access therapy.

For Briana, this kind of support proved life changing. When anxiety made classes too difficult to attend, her Pivotal coach literally walked beside her onto campus, helping her see that school could feel safe. With therapy and coaching, Briana returned to college and thrived. This spring, she graduated and earned admission to San Jose State to study psychology.

Pivotal’s impact can be seen not only in the continuing success of their students but especially when compared to the outcomes of typical foster youth. In California, just 63 percent of foster youth graduate high school. At Pivotal, more than 80 percent do. Of those graduates, more than 80 percent continue to higher education, and 81 percent complete their post-secondary goal. Nationally, just 10 percent of foster youth earn a college degree. Last year alone, Pivotal supported 442 Bay Area foster youth with coaching and provided nearly $300,000 in post-secondary scholarships.

As Briana’s journey shows, when foster youth have steady relationships and access to healing, they can move far beyond staying afloat. With Pivotal, they chart new waters toward bright horizons – never alone, always with a coach by their side.