17-Year-Old Foster Buddy App Creator Talks How App Helps Foster Youth

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Ryan's Roses minutes out one of twopoint seven Kiss FM. First though,
we have talked on the show beforeabout foster youth in southern California and the
struggles that foster youth face when they, as you say, each out of
the system. So there's a seventeenyear old. This is a great story.
There's a seventeen year old named LaylaTuranchi, high schooler from Brentwood.

(00:23):
She decided to do something about it. She decided to basically build and launch
an app to address this issue.She launched an app called Foster Buddy.
Good Morning, Leila. It's sonice to meet you. It's so nice
to meet you as well. Thankyou so much for this. Of course,
we want to know more about whyyou decided to launch this app.

(00:45):
So I'm a part of a fosterfamily and i also run a five oh
one C three on foster youth nonprofitcalled Coco's Angels based in Los Angeles,
and in the past several years,I've witnessed significant flaws in our current especially
with regards to helping foster youth stayon their feet after they turn eighteen.

(01:06):
So, while interviewing and taking portraitsof foster youth for a coffee table book.
Last year, it dawned on methat we were failing a significant population
of underserved youth and youth who didthe chance at having reliable mentors, who
needed supportive role models in their livesto help keep them on track. And
I thought to myself, what betterway to help foster youth than to connect

(01:29):
them with a mentor, And whatbetter way of helping society see foster youth
potential than encouraging them to become mentors. So just directed at everyone who's interested
in becoming a mentor. Imagine theimpact that you truly can have on someone
who has no one to turn to, And imagine how much just a little
commitment can do for someone who trulyneeds your help. I vote for you

(01:52):
for president running. So I meanjust listening to you, or recognizing an
issue, being obviously familiar with thesystem, addressing it and executing it.
It's so very impressive at seventeen yearsold. What's been the response since you've
launched Foster Budy. So, justto give a little background about what foster

(02:15):
body is, Foster Buddy is anapp that matches foster youth who are aging
out of the system with adult mentorsacross diverse professional fields and so on,
foster youth no longer gets support versusfrom the state or county welfare system.
That's where foster body steps in.I think a lot of the response,
especially for mentors, is a commontheme I see with a lot of people

(02:38):
who really want to help and makean impact, but truly just don't know
how. I think the message Iwould give to the listeners out there,
and the response that I've gotten froma lot of mentors, is that it
doesn't matter who you are, everyonetruly can help. And I think we
live in a world where we makeso many excuses as to why we can't
do something, But what if wejust try to give an ap of our

(03:00):
time every week or maybe even two, And what if we put ourselves in
the shoes of someone who didn't haveanyone in their lives getting them giving them
guidance. So I think foster Bodydoesn't just transform lives of fosters, but
it also transforms the lives of ourmentors who express expressed repetitively how much our
app has already changed them to Andif someone's listening right now and they want

(03:23):
to be a mentor what can theydo? So essentially, the first thing
I would say is to simply goonto the app store, search up foster
Buddy and start creating creating an account. And so far we've welcomed educators,
medical professionals, lawyers, producers,web designers, and tech industry experts onto

(03:44):
Foster Buddy. But you and anyby any means do not have to have
a medical degree or a JD tobecome a Foster Buddy mentor, So we
welcome everyone. We ensure that eachperson has a thorough background check with an
InApp third party background check service,and then we help foster youth with mentors
based on interest, experiences and careergoals. So it truly doesn't matter what

(04:05):
your profession is. Foster Budy canhelp find an emancipated foster youth who will
benefit from the role you can playin their lives. Leila Taranci's seventeen years
old, a student that recognize thisissue in the system, and it's just
really it's impressive, it's incredible.What do you want to do in ten
years? Oh my god, Iwanted to ask the exact same question,

(04:27):
Ryan, you can ask it.No, where do you see yourself in
ten years, Leila. So Isee myself stepping into the realm of policy
and being able to tangibly make thischange and be the change that I see
like want to create in this system. And I think for me, a
lot of people ask me what mydream for foster body is. And although

(04:49):
it would be ideal for every fosteryouth to be logged onto the app as
soon as they turn eighteen, mygoal isn't just that, But it's just
for foster youth to know that theyhave this as a crutch to fall back
on. So even if they choosenot to use it, it's so important
to just allow foster you to knowthat there are people that truly care for

(05:10):
them, because once they turn eighteen, they truly do not have anyone.
Yeah, so just knowing that theyhave this is a crutch to fall back
on is the most important thing.Yeah, you still need that guidance at
eighteen exactly. I'm blown away.I'm blown away. Well, thank you
Lena for coming on. It's sonice to meet you, and continued success,
and again, when you decide torun for president, please come back.

(05:34):
We're in I will, I will, all right, Bye bye bye.
I'm blown away by the poise,the execution, just everything that she
said. It's really that's like touchmy heart. It's very, very needed

(05:57):
and impressive all of it. Andshe'll be eligible to run in twenty forty
two, so get ready. Wow, fantastic. All right, we are
shifting gears. If you come tothis show for one thing only, and
that one thing is pay your bills, that's coming up. If that one
thing is Ryan's roses, that's next.