by Jamie Lee Evans and Yeshi Vaughan Yeshi running at a high school track meet. Foster Youth Museum’s Lost Childhood’s exhibition will be up at Santa Clara University for public viewing April 30 – May 12, 2023. Since the Covid-19 global pandemic hit the world in 2020, we have been waiting patiently for the opportunity to safely gather again. In honor of Foster Care Awareness Month and with the support from PivotalNow (www.pivotalnow.org) Lost Childhoods can be seen, free of charge, from 10 am to 6 pm during its run. — In 2019, I met the formidable young foster youth advocate, Yeshi Vaughan ..read more

by Jamie Lee Evans Photo LtR: Kate Teague, Ray Bussolari (FYM Curation Director), Kayla Gordon, and Jamie Lee Evans (wearing a face mask because of the Oakland fires in 2019, pre-Covid) It’s been about 15 years since I first tested out the practice of restorative justice (RJ). RJ, while still second fiddle to that other supposed justice system in the US, is far more popular now than it was then. The days of volunteer RJ facilitators working in borrowed spaces – in my case a women’s martial arts dojo in Oakland, California – are mostly gone, replaced with county-funded programs, and dedicated ..read more

by Foster Youth Museum director, Jamie Lee Evans I have interesting dreams.  Last night I dreamt there was a COVID-19 campaign for people to make friends instead of buying all the toilet paper they can find.  Then I woke up wondering how homeless people are supposed to shelter-in-place when they have no shelter to begin with. Then of course, my mind went to my foster youth community. Fosters – my word for anyone who has a day or more of care experience – are great survivors. Still, making friends and feeling part of a community, much less a family, is something we can really struggle with.  Ev ..read more

What supports young people to grow in resilience, success, good health and happiness? Love, connection and belonging. For foster youth this is even more profoundly true, even though fighting for food, clothing and shelter takes up so much energy. Join Foster Youth Museum and our latest exhibition Chosen: Foster Youth and Their Chosen Families and witness youth building their families through choosing, and through love.  The exhibition features compelling photo portraiture from Ray Bussolari and the stories from the mouths (and hearts) of youth.  The show opens First Friday (April 3, 2020) and ..read more