April 27, 2025 • 15 mins
Original Air Date: April 27, 2025
What happens to foster children once they turn 18 and age out of the system that provided housing and protection? Many end up homeless. Roots & Wings NJ is coming to their aid. Edith Fiato is the executive director.
What happens to foster children once they turn 18 and age out of the system that provided housing and protection? Many end up homeless. Roots & Wings NJ is coming to their aid. Edith Fiato is the executive director.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Sunstein Sessions on iHeartRadio, Conversations about issues that matter.
Here's your host, three time Gracie Award winner, Shelley Sunstein.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Now I want to introduce you to Edith Fiato. She
is the executive director of an organization called Roots and
Wings New Jersey. And this all has to do with
people who are in foster care who age out of
(00:31):
the system that tries to help children who are in
foster care. But you reach eighteen? Is it, Edith? And
it's like the ties er cut. So tell us all
about your organization.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Well, thank you, Shelly for having us talk about Ruts
and Wings today. Rutsen Wings is an organization with the
mission of providing safehouse, emotional support, life skills, and educational
opportunities for youth who are aging out of foster care,
empowering them to rise toward their greatest potential. Our goal
(01:13):
is to help them build the skills that they'll need
to set themselves on a path towards self sufficiency and
financial independence. As you mentioned, all support for foster youth
who have aged out of the system ends the day
that they emancipate. In New Jersey, they are able to
emancipate or leave the system any time between eighteen and
(01:35):
twenty one. But if they're still in the foster care
system at twenty one as of their twenty first birthday,
they no longer have support, so they are on their own.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
So what exactly, Well, first of all, how do foster
kids even know about you?
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Well, foster youth find out about us in a variety
of ways. Work very closely with foster care service providers
to tell them about the services we provide. They also
find us sometimes independently just doing a Google search because
they're looking at becoming homeless on their twenty first birthday
(02:15):
and they start to prepare. We actually serve a variety
of youth who are in different stages. Sometimes we have
applicants who are eighteen or nineteen years old and feel
that it's time for them to leave the system. Others
(02:36):
are twenty two years old, have been out for a while,
have made it work, but then realize that they need
some help to fulfill their goals. So we see a
wide range in maturity levels and where they are, but
what they have in common is the motivation to change
their lives. They are often homeless. Thirty five percent of
(03:01):
our program members come to us basically homeless or living
in their car or couch surfing at friends homes, and
sixty five percent are in imminent danger of becoming homeless,
so they are currently in a group home or in
a transitional program, but know that on the day that
(03:23):
they turn twenty one, they will no longer have a
place to stay.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
So the biggest problem is the homelessness.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Well, Shelly, our program looks at it holistically, but at
the end of the day, it's hard to be worried
about you know, what vocational training or what educational path
you're going to take, or learning about budgeting if you
don't have shelter. So for us, that's the biggest that's
(03:58):
the biggest hurdle that are program members are facing. Once
Roots and Wings provides the apartments, then they are able
to focus on building those other skills, the life skills
that come with living in their own apartment with roommates.
So you have learning how to manage a home, clean
(04:20):
a home, resolve conflict, and communicate with your roommates. There's
a whole set of life skills that prepare them for
independent living once they leave the program. But as you
can imagine, being an eighteen or twenty one year old
(04:40):
with nowhere to go for shelter. Your first concern is survival.
Your first concern is shelter, and so how do you
find them housing? Well, we are very fortunate in that
we have we look in our community. It's a scattered
(05:02):
it's a scattered model, which means that we go out
into the rental market and try to find apartments with
two or three bedrooms, and we work very closely with
landlords that have an affinity to the mission. They understand
the need to provide housing for these individuals and they
(05:24):
trust us to make sure that their their property is respected,
and we work out a partnership basically with landlords, and
those land lords can be anyone.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Do you have enough landlords who are willing to help
Roots and Wings New Jersey?
Speaker 3 (05:47):
We are always looking for more, but we we've been very,
very lucky. Yes, every time lords even know about this,
it's it's just word of mouth. We apply for apartments
just like everyone else and really rely on the opportunity
(06:10):
to have a conversation with a landlord. So sometimes we
don't even make it through the application process. But if
we find that we're working with a realtor or a
broker who's representing the landlord that's open to having a
conversation and they learn about the program. You'd be amazed
at how many people are The mission resonates with so
(06:35):
many people because so many of us have either raised
young adults in the you know, through the eighteen to
twenty one, twenty two h span, and we realized that
should they be our children, we would we would want
someone to give them that opportunity.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
I'm speaking with Edith Fiato. She is the executive director
of Roots and Wings and Jay dot org. If people
are listening, some landlords or realtors, how would they reach
out to you to start a dialogue.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
Well, they could come.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
To our website and we could start the conversation through that,
or they could reach me directly by sending me an
email at Edith dot Fiato at Roots and Wingsenja dot org.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
So it's roots and wings. Is that the plus sign
or the and word?
Speaker 4 (07:35):
It's the and word. Thank you for counting.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Minutes, Roots and Wingsenja dot org. It sounds to me
that you have been involved in foster care in some
capacity in your life. What is your story now?
Speaker 3 (07:54):
My story, my story is that I started out in
the corporate world and stayed home, became very involved in
various boards locally, and when I went back to work,
or when I started thinking about going back to work,
I started at a nonprofit and later I went to
(08:17):
work at a larger nonprofit and part of my responsibilities
was overseeing a mentoring program for foster youth who were
aging out. When I learned about Roots and Wings, I
jumped on the opportunity because what I learned as someone
overseeing the mentoring program was the importance or how large
(08:38):
the hurdle, the housing hurdle was, and Roots and Wings
is one of the few, if not the only, agency
in New Jersey that solely serves youth who have aged
out of foster care and provides housing. So it's a
really special organization that's working with a population that's often
(09:00):
unseen but very much in need and with tremendous potential.
They are as a group facing tremendous odds. About twenty
thousand youth are aging out every year nationally. These youth
have twenty to fifty percent higher risk of ending up homeless.
(09:24):
Within two years of leaving the system, twenty percent will
be incarcerated within two years of leaving, and only about
twenty seven percent will get a high school degree or
a ged by the age of nineteen. Overall, only well
less than six percent will go on to earn a
(09:46):
two or four year degree. So, as you can imagine,
with those hurdles, it's really hard to break a cycle
of poverty. It's really hard to change the course of
your life. And program that provide services like Roots and
Wings helps them change the trajectory of their lives.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
What I'm not getting is, I mean, I get that
some landlords are open to coming up with some agreement
so that foster young adults can be housed, but how
can they afford the rent? I mean, where does this
money come from? If they don't have a job and
they're homeless.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Roots and Wings provides the rent and the utilities. So
we are only able to do that because our community
is incredibly generous and allows us to do that. Where
do you get your funding, Well, pretty much four different ways.
Our contributions come from individuals and corporations, private foundation.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
Grants, we have a few.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
County grants from Union and Morris County, and special events.
In fact, we have our gallup coming up on May
seventh at the Grand in Toto One.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
New Jersey.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
This provides tremendously critical funding for our organization because ninety
five percent of our budget is raised through private funds.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
And again, if you are interested in attending the GALLA,
go to Roots and wingsenjay dot org. That's Roots the
Word and wings ja dot org. So how many do
you think are in need in New Jersey alone? Since
(11:48):
you only serve New Jersey now.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
We will serve anyone who's willing to live in Morrison
Union County. Most of our program members come from New
Jersey because they those are the ones that that hear
about our program about well a few hundred a year
age out of the system in New Jersey alone.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Can you tell us some success stories you've had?
Speaker 4 (12:20):
Oh? Sure, I can.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Well, we have we have like three minutes left, three minutes.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
We have a.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Program member who's about to graduate from Caldwell University. She
was in the foster care system during her high school years,
attended four different high schools, but managed to graduate on
her own. She is graduating with a dual degree in
chemistry and secondary school education.
Speaker 4 (12:49):
And but she.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Came to us because she would she was not able
to do it alone and working together, we were able
to provide housing as well is transportation to and from
school and she is all set to start as a
teacher in a school district. So she's one of our
(13:14):
current members and very excited about her future.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
We have about two minutes left. What have we not
said that the audience should know about Roots and Wings
and Jay or what we should know about the young
adults that you're helping.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
We help, We need the young adults where they are.
Not all of our program members need to go to
college or want to go to college. If they are
pursuing a vocational track, we are happy to support them.
Some of our program members go through certificate programs to
(13:54):
become certified medical assistants or certified nursing assistants.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
There is as many.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Possibilities and opportunities as the skills and interests of our
program members. Our program staff is exceptional. They are highly
trained and very skilled with working with this population and
meet them where they are, provide the supports that they need,
and encourage and build some trust that allows them to
(14:28):
fulfill their goals.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
You do such good work. How old does the organization?
Speaker 3 (14:34):
The organization just celebrate its twenty fifth anniversary last all.
It was started by a Costa volunteer who Kasa if
you're not familiar with they are volunteers that work with
foster children and one of her youths was one of
her youth was graduating and had nowhere to go, and
(14:56):
when she asked, she realized this and brought the youth
to live with her, and then convinced some of her
friends to do the same, and that's how Roots and
Wings was born and again.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
If you can help Roots and wingsenja dot org.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
You've been listening to Sunstein Sessions on iHeartRadio, a production
of New York's classic rock Q one O four point
three
Welcome to Sunstein Sessions on iHeartRadio, Conversations about issues that matter.
Here's your host, three time Gracie Award winner, Shelley Sunstein.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Now I want to introduce you to Edith Fiato. She
is the executive director of an organization called Roots and
Wings New Jersey. And this all has to do with
people who are in foster care who age out of
(00:31):
the system that tries to help children who are in
foster care. But you reach eighteen? Is it, Edith? And
it's like the ties er cut. So tell us all
about your organization.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Well, thank you, Shelly for having us talk about Ruts
and Wings today. Rutsen Wings is an organization with the
mission of providing safehouse, emotional support, life skills, and educational
opportunities for youth who are aging out of foster care,
empowering them to rise toward their greatest potential. Our goal
(01:13):
is to help them build the skills that they'll need
to set themselves on a path towards self sufficiency and
financial independence. As you mentioned, all support for foster youth
who have aged out of the system ends the day
that they emancipate. In New Jersey, they are able to
emancipate or leave the system any time between eighteen and
(01:35):
twenty one. But if they're still in the foster care
system at twenty one as of their twenty first birthday,
they no longer have support, so they are on their own.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
So what exactly, Well, first of all, how do foster
kids even know about you?
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Well, foster youth find out about us in a variety
of ways. Work very closely with foster care service providers
to tell them about the services we provide. They also
find us sometimes independently just doing a Google search because
they're looking at becoming homeless on their twenty first birthday
(02:15):
and they start to prepare. We actually serve a variety
of youth who are in different stages. Sometimes we have
applicants who are eighteen or nineteen years old and feel
that it's time for them to leave the system. Others
(02:36):
are twenty two years old, have been out for a while,
have made it work, but then realize that they need
some help to fulfill their goals. So we see a
wide range in maturity levels and where they are, but
what they have in common is the motivation to change
their lives. They are often homeless. Thirty five percent of
(03:01):
our program members come to us basically homeless or living
in their car or couch surfing at friends homes, and
sixty five percent are in imminent danger of becoming homeless,
so they are currently in a group home or in
a transitional program, but know that on the day that
(03:23):
they turn twenty one, they will no longer have a
place to stay.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
So the biggest problem is the homelessness.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Well, Shelly, our program looks at it holistically, but at
the end of the day, it's hard to be worried
about you know, what vocational training or what educational path
you're going to take, or learning about budgeting if you
don't have shelter. So for us, that's the biggest that's
(03:58):
the biggest hurdle that are program members are facing. Once
Roots and Wings provides the apartments, then they are able
to focus on building those other skills, the life skills
that come with living in their own apartment with roommates.
So you have learning how to manage a home, clean
(04:20):
a home, resolve conflict, and communicate with your roommates. There's
a whole set of life skills that prepare them for
independent living once they leave the program. But as you
can imagine, being an eighteen or twenty one year old
(04:40):
with nowhere to go for shelter. Your first concern is survival.
Your first concern is shelter, and so how do you
find them housing? Well, we are very fortunate in that
we have we look in our community. It's a scattered
(05:02):
it's a scattered model, which means that we go out
into the rental market and try to find apartments with
two or three bedrooms, and we work very closely with
landlords that have an affinity to the mission. They understand
the need to provide housing for these individuals and they
(05:24):
trust us to make sure that their their property is respected,
and we work out a partnership basically with landlords, and
those land lords can be anyone.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Do you have enough landlords who are willing to help
Roots and Wings New Jersey?
Speaker 3 (05:47):
We are always looking for more, but we we've been very,
very lucky. Yes, every time lords even know about this,
it's it's just word of mouth. We apply for apartments
just like everyone else and really rely on the opportunity
(06:10):
to have a conversation with a landlord. So sometimes we
don't even make it through the application process. But if
we find that we're working with a realtor or a
broker who's representing the landlord that's open to having a
conversation and they learn about the program. You'd be amazed
at how many people are The mission resonates with so
(06:35):
many people because so many of us have either raised
young adults in the you know, through the eighteen to
twenty one, twenty two h span, and we realized that
should they be our children, we would we would want
someone to give them that opportunity.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
I'm speaking with Edith Fiato. She is the executive director
of Roots and Wings and Jay dot org. If people
are listening, some landlords or realtors, how would they reach
out to you to start a dialogue.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
Well, they could come.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
To our website and we could start the conversation through that,
or they could reach me directly by sending me an
email at Edith dot Fiato at Roots and Wingsenja dot org.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
So it's roots and wings. Is that the plus sign
or the and word?
Speaker 4 (07:35):
It's the and word. Thank you for counting.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Minutes, Roots and Wingsenja dot org. It sounds to me
that you have been involved in foster care in some
capacity in your life. What is your story now?
Speaker 3 (07:54):
My story, my story is that I started out in
the corporate world and stayed home, became very involved in
various boards locally, and when I went back to work,
or when I started thinking about going back to work,
I started at a nonprofit and later I went to
(08:17):
work at a larger nonprofit and part of my responsibilities
was overseeing a mentoring program for foster youth who were
aging out. When I learned about Roots and Wings, I
jumped on the opportunity because what I learned as someone
overseeing the mentoring program was the importance or how large
(08:38):
the hurdle, the housing hurdle was, and Roots and Wings
is one of the few, if not the only, agency
in New Jersey that solely serves youth who have aged
out of foster care and provides housing. So it's a
really special organization that's working with a population that's often
(09:00):
unseen but very much in need and with tremendous potential.
They are as a group facing tremendous odds. About twenty
thousand youth are aging out every year nationally. These youth
have twenty to fifty percent higher risk of ending up homeless.
(09:24):
Within two years of leaving the system, twenty percent will
be incarcerated within two years of leaving, and only about
twenty seven percent will get a high school degree or
a ged by the age of nineteen. Overall, only well
less than six percent will go on to earn a
(09:46):
two or four year degree. So, as you can imagine,
with those hurdles, it's really hard to break a cycle
of poverty. It's really hard to change the course of
your life. And program that provide services like Roots and
Wings helps them change the trajectory of their lives.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
What I'm not getting is, I mean, I get that
some landlords are open to coming up with some agreement
so that foster young adults can be housed, but how
can they afford the rent? I mean, where does this
money come from? If they don't have a job and
they're homeless.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Roots and Wings provides the rent and the utilities. So
we are only able to do that because our community
is incredibly generous and allows us to do that. Where
do you get your funding, Well, pretty much four different ways.
Our contributions come from individuals and corporations, private foundation.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
Grants, we have a few.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
County grants from Union and Morris County, and special events.
In fact, we have our gallup coming up on May
seventh at the Grand in Toto One.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
New Jersey.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
This provides tremendously critical funding for our organization because ninety
five percent of our budget is raised through private funds.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
And again, if you are interested in attending the GALLA,
go to Roots and wingsenjay dot org. That's Roots the
Word and wings ja dot org. So how many do
you think are in need in New Jersey alone? Since
(11:48):
you only serve New Jersey now.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
We will serve anyone who's willing to live in Morrison
Union County. Most of our program members come from New
Jersey because they those are the ones that that hear
about our program about well a few hundred a year
age out of the system in New Jersey alone.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Can you tell us some success stories you've had?
Speaker 4 (12:20):
Oh? Sure, I can.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Well, we have we have like three minutes left, three minutes.
Speaker 4 (12:27):
We have a.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Program member who's about to graduate from Caldwell University. She
was in the foster care system during her high school years,
attended four different high schools, but managed to graduate on
her own. She is graduating with a dual degree in
chemistry and secondary school education.
Speaker 4 (12:49):
And but she.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Came to us because she would she was not able
to do it alone and working together, we were able
to provide housing as well is transportation to and from
school and she is all set to start as a
teacher in a school district. So she's one of our
(13:14):
current members and very excited about her future.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
We have about two minutes left. What have we not
said that the audience should know about Roots and Wings
and Jay or what we should know about the young
adults that you're helping.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
We help, We need the young adults where they are.
Not all of our program members need to go to
college or want to go to college. If they are
pursuing a vocational track, we are happy to support them.
Some of our program members go through certificate programs to
(13:54):
become certified medical assistants or certified nursing assistants.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
There is as many.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Possibilities and opportunities as the skills and interests of our
program members. Our program staff is exceptional. They are highly
trained and very skilled with working with this population and
meet them where they are, provide the supports that they need,
and encourage and build some trust that allows them to
(14:28):
fulfill their goals.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
You do such good work. How old does the organization?
Speaker 3 (14:34):
The organization just celebrate its twenty fifth anniversary last all.
It was started by a Costa volunteer who Kasa if
you're not familiar with they are volunteers that work with
foster children and one of her youths was one of
her youth was graduating and had nowhere to go, and
(14:56):
when she asked, she realized this and brought the youth
to live with her, and then convinced some of her
friends to do the same, and that's how Roots and
Wings was born and again.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
If you can help Roots and wingsenja dot org.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
You've been listening to Sunstein Sessions on iHeartRadio, a production
of New York's classic rock Q one O four point
three
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