About - Foster Your Future

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Our Story

Our Beginning

A Desire to Give Back

Foster Your Future was founded in 2015 on the belief that all people have great potential given the right opportunities. As she was nearing her 60 th birthday, Ginny Paulsen, decided she wanted to “give back.” Ginny was drawn to the idea of doing something to support youth in foster care. Growing up in a large, close-knit family instilled in her a strong sense of connection, belonging, and the transformative power of family support. Further, as a mother to five children, including two adopted daughters from China, her personal journey through motherhood—especially adoption—deepened her understanding of the significance of children growing up with strong family ties. Ginny and her husband Randy decided to volunteer in a group home for boys.

While volunteering, Ginny observed firsthand the resilience and potential of the young people she met. However, she was also struck by how unprepared they were to be independent when their time in care ended. They had dreams and determination, but like other young people their age, many lacked basic life skills—like how to manage money, how to care for an apartment, and how to manage relationships with a boss or landlord. Unlike other young people their age, many did not have the necessary support network in place to learn those crucial skills over the course of young adulthood.

Ginny couldn’t help but to look at the problem through the lens of an occupational therapist. With more than three decades of professional experience, Ginny was especially attuned to the how of human development. She knew that independence isn’t automatic, but built over time through hands-on support, practice, and confidence-building. She recognized that learning life skills serves a larger purpose of improving a young person’s sense of control and autonomy. She understood that programs needed to be personalized because childhood trauma affects the development of executive functioning, emotional regulation, and learning. She had learned that effective services are experiential and based on real-word practice, not simply teaching and talking.

Ginny knew then that she wanted to create an organization that could fill a critical gap for young adults that had missed out on the emotional, social, and cognitive supports provided by a stable childhood that build life readiness.