Stepping Forward LA

Over 1,000 foster youth age out of the foster care system in LA County every year with limited resources, a lack of supportive adults to guide them and are unsure how to apply to college, get a job or secure housing.
Stepping Forward LA supports these young adults with housing opportunities, professional and personal development skills and building a community with their peers and adult co-mentors.
With your support at this pivotal moment, we can provide former foster youth with financial support so they can move in to their new homes!

Stepping Forward LA (SFLA) will provide a learning series throughout Los Angeles presented by current and former foster youth. We already have the structures in place in our internship to support youth in creating and presenting workshops.
Every month, SFLA staff and interns will present a variety of life-skills and career readiness topics to their peers, neighbors and community members at their local Ys, libraries and parks.
This would be a great opportunity for community members to come together in a safe environment to connect.

In 2017, Stepping Forward LA (SFLA) was founded to improve outcomes for young adults aging out of foster care. We have served countless foster youth in Los Angeles County, providing workforce development through our short-term paid internship, community through peer and co-mentoring and resources through our Stepping Forward App. We launched our housing initiative in January of 2024 to support former foster youth in finding - and keeping - safe, stable and affordable housing, along with providing wraparound services.

Since 2017, we've provided paid internships to 239 former foster youth. Every year, interns work on projects central to our mission, allowing us to deliver programs by and for foster youth. We're now leveraging our proven internship model to address one of their biggest obstacles: housing. With a strong network of housing partners and a specialized curriculum, we'll help youth secure stable housing and gain independent living skills as they exit foster care, while sharing what they learn through our mobile app to benefit thousands more youth.

At Stepping Forward LA (SFLA), we empower youth in foster care by leveraging the expertise of individuals who have been through the system. Last year, our community of former foster youth developed an interactive mobile app to help youth build skills, access resources, and get support as they enter adulthood. Over the next year, we will guide 400 current and former foster youth through our app to gain stability and a foundation to thrive. We will also create 24 internships that pay former foster youth to continue improving the app.