Creating a safe, supportive transitional living program for teens in foster care pursuing higher education

They’re beating the odds. Now, they just need a place to belong.

For most teens, there’s a family to call when life gets hard. They have a place to spend holidays, a parent or relative to attend big school events, someone to give them a hug after a long week.

But for teens in foster care, it’s different.

Many still love and care about their biological families, but serious family challenges have made it unsafe for them to live at home. At just 17 years old, they’re navigating life without a stable home, without a familiar voice checking in each night, and without the safety net that most young people their age can count on.

How We’re Giving Teens in Foster Care Somewhere to Belong

In 2024, KVC West Virginia, together with Fairmont State University and the West Virginia Schools of Diversion and Transition, launched Middle College at Fairmont State University — a groundbreaking dual enrollment program that helps teens in foster care finish high school and earn an associate’s degree (or two years toward a bachelor’s) at the same time.

Middle College is designed to show what’s possible when young people have structure, encouragement and opportunity. Now, we’re taking the next step: a year-round, supervised transitional living home for up to 10 teens at a time — a place where they can feel safe, supported, and surrounded by people who believe in them.

Why Transitional Living is Essential 

These youth have lived through more instability and trauma than many people face in a lifetime. Some have changed schools six times in a single year. Others have spent thousands of days in foster care without ever knowing what “home” truly feels like.

Without support, far too many teens age out of foster care into homelessness, poverty or unfinished education. But when they have  a safe home, a caring community and the tools to navigate adulthood, everything changes.

Our transitional living program gives them:

• A stable, year-round home just steps from campus

• A nurturing, structured environment to practice independent living skills

• Connection to therapy and mentorship to help them heal and grow

• Easy access to classes, resources and activities at Fairmont State

When they leave foster care, they’ll have the education, confidence and skills to launch into adulthood prepared… not just to survive, but to live a life they love. 

How Your Gift Changes Everything 

We need to raise $540,000 to open the doors of a transitional living home for teens in foster care who are working hard to beat the odds. Your gift will help purchase and renovate a five-bedroom home just steps from Fairmont State University’s campus, and turn it into a safe, welcoming home where they truly belong.

Your generosity will:

• Support the purchase and renovation of a home so it meets state safety and accessibility standards

• Furnish 10 teens’ rooms with beds, dressers, desks, bookshelves and mattresses

• Create warm, welcoming living and dining spaces with durable, easy-to-clean furniture

• Install an ADA-accessible ramp and other accessibility features so every teen can live comfortably

• Add a comprehensive security system and fire safety equipment to protect residents

• Provide everyday essentials like linens, cookware, hygiene items and other necessities to make the house feel like home

Join us in building something powerful.  

With your help, we can give teens in foster care a safe place to belong, focus on their education and build a fulfilling life.

Contact Michelle Lawrence, KVC Foundation President, at mlawrence@kvc.org or (913) 226-2469 to learn how you can help.

Click here to download the campaign one pager.