This week, we’re joined by Gretchen Dupps (pictured above), president & executive director of Cleveland Angels, a charity operating in the Cleveland region that supports foster parents and children. Dupps talks us through some sobering statistics about fostered children:
– Nationally, 50% of the homeless population spent time in foster care.
– 97% of children in foster care will not graduate from college, despite the fact that as wards of the state, they receive a full ride to any state school of their choice.
– Young women in foster care are more than twice as likely as their peers (not in foster care) to become pregnant by age 19.
– Only about 50% of those who age out of care will obtain a high school diploma.
Cleveland Angels combats these trends through two programs called Love Box and Dare to Dream. Together, these programs offer consistent support to fostered children and their caretakers with intentional giving and mentoring.
The charity is hosting two fundraisers with tickets available now. Don’t Stop Believing on October 4th and a performance from thrillusionist, David Davinci on November 16th.
We also have new music from Cleveland’s prog rock Rick Ray Band (pictured above). Its 34th album, Dark Matter Halo, was released in late July and is available from CDBaby.
And an older track from Cuyahoga Falls band, Blue Radio. It is currently in the studio working on new material slated for release in October 2019.
