College expo inspires foster care youth

Imperial Valley Regional Occupational Program partnered with foster care groups in the county for a college expo at San Diego State University Imperial Valley campus.

Motivational speaker Reggie Dabbs was a guest speaker. According to CNN he is the number one communicator to children in the world.

He speaks to one point five million children a year across the globe.

One person by your side is all you need to be successful says Reggie dabbs. He was lucky enough to have two people, his foster parents.

“Our job is to let kids know that they have someone on their side, their past is their history but their future is their destiny,” said Dabbs.

“That there is something like this in your community is pretty admirable. Cause there is some cities in America that have nothing like this, they don’t even think about foster kids,” Dabbs said.

The expo included college driven workshops by mentors who know what it’s like to grow up in the foster care system.

“When we were in the foster care system, and I was at Betty Joe Mcneece. I was getting in trouble and hanging out with the wrong crowd, I felt like we were alone,” said Joshua Lopez, counselor for the Holtville School District.

“A lot of students they lack hope, and the sense of seeing themselves succeed because they don’t have any role models,” said Luis Torres, IVROP program Manager.

IVROP links foster youth with mentors that make sure hey have all the tools needed to succeed.

“For me it took an event like this when I was younger. Things like this are all building blocks. Our goal is to set a solid foundation for these students to understand their self worth,” said Lopez.

According to Foster Care to Success, less than 10 percent of foster youth graduate from college. This college expo is hoping to increase that number.