ST INS CARES-Advanced The Faith-Preparing Foster Youth For Adult Life

Turning 18 is hard enough with a family to call. Now imagine hitting adulthood with no safety net, no steady adults, and a history of being moved again and again. That’s the reality for many foster youth aging out of foster care, and it’s why we invited Rebecca Clark from Advanced The Faith to join us for a frank, practical conversation about what real support should look like.

Rebecca walks us through how Advanced The Faith, a Christian nonprofit serving Southwest Florida and beyond, partners with group homes and emergency youth shelters to help teens build a foundation for adult life. We dig into the life skills that most of us take for granted, like budgeting, financial literacy, scheduling appointments, handling car problems, and learning conflict resolution. But we keep coming back to the deeper need: trusted relationships with safe adults who don’t disappear when the system does.

We also talk volunteering and what it means to enter a group home with respect. Rebecca explains why these teens are not “criminals,” why group homes are not “jail,” and how trauma and disrupted placements can shape trust. From faith and fitness Saturdays to customized programming across Florida, her stories make it clear that consistency is its own kind of intervention.

If you care about foster care transition support, mentorship, and practical ways to reduce homelessness after aging out, this conversation will give you a clear next step. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’d volunteer, and leave a review so more people find the nonprofits doing the work up close.

Advance the Faith
Rebecca Clark
2258 Campestre Terrace
Naples, FL 34119
239-248-2838
Info@advancethefaith.org
advancethefaith.org

State Insurance USA
4450 Camino Real Way Ft Myers, FL 33966
239-567-9992
100 Lovers Ln 3rd Floor Ft Myers Beach, FL 33931
(239) 690-6300
office@StateInsuranceUSA.com
stateinsuranceusa.com
https://www.facebook.com/Stateinsuranceusa
#StateInsuranceUSA
#SupportLocal
#WeLoveOurClients
@Stateinsuranceusa

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Transcript

Welcome And Podcast Mission

Gail Langner 0:00

Welcome to State Insurance USA Cares Podcast, where we celebrate the heart of our communities. Each episode, we highlight local charities and nonprofits who are bringing hope, help, and healing to those who need it most. Get ready to be inspired by the amazing stories of people making a difference. Because together, we care. Well,

Meet Rebecca Clark

Gail Langner 0:20

hello, and thank you everyone for stopping by the State Insurance Cares Podcast. This is Gail Langner. Today, my guest is Rebecca Clark with Advanced the Faith. And uh of Advanced the Faith is one of the nonprofits that we've donated to. We're honored to donate to. And so, Rebecca, thanks so much for joining us today. Thank you so much for having me. I'm just so excited just to get to share about what we do at Advanced the Faith. And we're so thankful for State Insurance. Well, what why don't you go ahead and tell people what is Advanced the Faith? I didn't know either until we had a chance to chat. Yeah, Advanced the Faith

What Advanced The Faith Does

Gail Langner 1:00

is a local Christian nonprofit here in Southwest Florida. And we are on a mission to prepare foster youth for a life of faith and purpose. And so, um, of course, it's been a long history of being involved with um foster care, both internationally and domestically here in Florida. Um, but essentially we support um group homes for foster youth, especially foster youth that are about to age out of foster care. So we bring in programming that aids in that process. You know, I I never really thought about it, but when they do age out until I I looked on your website and actually was doing a little bit of research uh before we had this call. I was surprised to see the numbers of um homeless afterwards and um and maybe even jail time, you know, that type of thing. I'm glad you're jumping in and helping at this juncture. What kind of things do you need to teach them, Rebecca?

Life Skills For Aging Out

Gail Langner 2:05

Yeah, so when you think about it, you know, when you're preparing to, you know, turn 18 and go to college typically or start a job, you know, you usually in a typical circumstance, you may have mom and dad to call when you're trying to figure out car insurance or um, you know, what happens when I get a flat tire or scheduling an appointment. And so really we're we're trying to teach them those basic life skills. Um a lot of what we teach is about financial literacy and budgeting, um, but even those soft skills like conflict resolution, um, navigating relationships. But really, we know we can't just, you know, teach them everything all at once. Really, we're wanting to connect them in relationship to safe, trusted adults that they feel comfortable calling or even making sure that they they can still be checking up on them after they're 18 so that when they run into those things, um, they have someone that they can ask.

Volunteers And Group Home Programs

Gail Langner 3:13

So perhaps one of the things that you would also need besides funding would be volunteers, right? Yes, absolutely. So um we work with five group homes in the state of Florida and we run various programming, we customize it to whatever the need is of the population at that home. And so, um, for instance, at one of the homes, we run a faith and fitness program every Saturday. So we bring a group of volunteers out to run workout stations, um, play basketball, and then we also incorporate a faith element. So people getting to share their story and just connecting with the boys there. But um, every home we're taking a different team, and we also take international trips as well that we take volunteers on. So, yes, there's always, always a need for volunteers. Okay.

International Work In The Bahamas

Gail Langner 4:09

Um, internationally, where would you go normally? Yes, so we uh work with homes in Haiti and the Bahamas. Actually, that's where we started. We started in the Bahamas. I say we expanded in reverse, being based in Florida. Um right now we are not able to send teams to Haiti, but we do send teams um to the Bahamas. So we serve uh in Cat Island, Bahamas and Nassau. Um, and it's really neat because we actually um follow along with the youth all the way through aging out as well. Our team um has been working there since 2009. So we have young adults who were in Cat Island um years ago that are now in their 20s. We were just there last week, actually, and some of them have kids of their own now. So we're able to follow along with them um as they are in Cat Island, and then when they're a little bit older, they go to NASA and then they age out. And so they're working there. Okay, awesome.

Florida Homes They Support

Gail Langner 5:13

Well, um, where the the homes that are here in in Southwest Florida are they in Collier County, Lee County, with Charlotte? Um Yes. So we um work with an emergency youth shelter that is in Lee County, um, and then we work with two homes for boys um in foster care in Charlotte County that can each home can house up to 24 boys. Um so yes, and then we work with um a home for teen girls in foster care that's in Polk County, and then a home for teen, another home for teen boys in foster care that's also in Polk County. In Polk County, okay. All right. So um, oh Jesus, I had it right in my right at the tip of my tongue. I was gonna ask you. Um, what how did you get involved?

Rebecca’s Path Into The Work

Gail Langner 6:05

Yeah, so um I had gone to college in Polk County, actually. And it's funny because the one of the homes that we work with in Polk County is um run by my former professor. And so um I had heard, yeah, I had heard about him. Um I had heard him share about this this home um when I was in college and even got to visit it with some friends to volunteer once. And um and then I was in grad school through that same um university, and I had done several different missions um projects. Um I had done different missions, internships overseas. And what was so interesting is um I there was always some kind of connection to children's homes or group homes, even if I wasn't directly working with the children's home. One of my internships, um, actually I was on staying on property of a children's home, but that's not even why I was there. But I was able to to gain, I was able to gain a lot of understanding and experience of that world just by being there. And um, while I was finishing up grad school, I was um looking for some part-time work, and my now bosses uh were attending the same church as me, and we met, and they knew of some of the experiences that I had and what I was looking for. So they brought me on for part-time internship. Um, and then eventually I came on full-time. And so it was just kind of a really neat roundabout way of full circle of having all that connection to group homes and the foster care system kind of indirectly, and then now getting to work um, you know, full-time in that field. Well, I would think that with your age at that time, I would think you would be almost the perfect person to be relatable, wouldn't you think, to the to those in in in those in that situation. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's um I think what can be really neat too, especially because we a lot of our volunteers are college students. Um it's really cool to see, yeah, it's really cool to see that connection um and realize that both parties can learn from one another, right? Um even those that we serve are able to kind of give a different perspective um to those that didn't grow up in the foster care system. Um, but once again, like you said, just be relatable um and and learn from one another. That that is incredible. I'm I'm happy to hear that. Well, if our listeners today, what would be one thing that you would really like to get across to them? One thing that maybe they wouldn't know or ways they could help.

Trauma And The Truth About Group Homes

Gail Langner 9:10

Yeah, I would say um, you know, when it comes to group homes for those in foster care, um there is a term that, you know, I don't necessarily like, but it is a term that is used that is called, you know, those who've experienced multiple failed placements, which is usually um the population that we are serving. It's the population we actually choose to serve because they are underserved. And um, we've had youth that have had over 40 placements in foster care by the time they're 17. Um 40 4-0. Yes. Yes. I just had somebody out who had had over 40 placements before he was 17 and and it ended up in this group home. And um, you know, I I just want people to understand that that is that is not their fault, you know, that there is there is trauma involved, um, that going into foster care in and of itself can be traumatic. And of course. Um and, you know, that just the lack of trust that can develop after going through all these different placements, and that that is why, you know, our heart strings pull towards this population. Um, we don't know, you know, how long we'll get to be a part of their lives, although we're we make ourselves available for as much as they they want us to be a part of their lives. Um, but they are not in the group homes because of, you know, anything that they've done or they're they're not criminals. You know, we try to remind people when you go into these homes, they're not in jail, you know. They are this is their home, and we are here to to be guests in their home. Um, and so really just making that bringing that awareness to the dynamic that um, you know, many of them are coming into the home having had those experiences, but they are still teenagers, you know, and they they want to have that relationship and connection. Um, and we believe, of course, the hope of Christ is can be a constant for them that we want to have them have that relationship no matter where life takes them. And so just bringing that awareness, um, I would say. Great. How do they how would someone reach

How To Reach Them And Wrap-Up

Gail Langner 11:36

you? What's the best way to get in touch with you, Rebecca? Yes. So they can go on to our website, advancesthefaith.org. Um, and my email is Rebecca at advancethefaith.org, R-E-B-E-C-C-A. And I'm the person that gets all of our volunteers um started and connected and helps you find the place that I think you would be um most passionate about serving. So I would love it if people reached out. Awesome. Well, that is great. Well, Rebecca Clark with Advanced the Faith, thank you so much for being on the podcast today. I really appreciate it. And here we are the day after Memorial Day. I'm sure you've got a ton of things on your desk to do. So I won't keep you any longer, but I appreciate you taking the time to be with me today. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you for joining us on State Insurance USA Cares. We hope today's story uplifted and inspired you. If you'd like to support or learn more about the incredible work happening in your community, visit StateInsuranceusa.com or call 239 567 9992. You can also visit CaboWabboGym.com. Until next time, be sure to let your sun shine and keep sharing good and positive vibes wherever the waves take you.