LYNN PRICE INDUCTED INTO INTERNATIONAL ASHOKA FELLOWSHIP
Ashoka: Innovators for the Public recognizes founder of Camp To Belong program that reunites siblings separated by foster care and strengthens
critical sibling bonds
WASHINGTON, DC (November 11, 2005) — For her passionate advocacy on behalf of foster children, Lynn Price, founder of Camp To Belong, was one of 14 social entrepreneurs from the United States and Canada inducted into an international fellowship by Ashoka: Innovators for the Public at a special ceremony Monday at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C. Once elected, Fellows benefit from being part of the Ashoka fellowship for life.
Price got the idea for “Camp To Belong,” now headquartered in Colorado, when she watched a young girl at a children’s shelter gaze longingly at her brother in the boys’ section across the campus. She realized how painful it was for the two children to be separated and to miss the shared experiences of childhood. Through her volunteer post as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), she was able to identify siblings who were separated by the foster care system, and soon was organizing a camp in Nevada where siblings placed in foster care could spend quality time together.
“About 75% of the children in foster care have been separated from a sibling,” Price notes. “If we had homes for all siblings or if we had a visitation system in place, we wouldn’t need Camp To Belong. We are working to bring together the courts, the foster care system, child welfare professionals and foster parents under the simple concept that siblings should not be separated; that kids in trauma who’ve lost their parents and their homes need their siblings more than ever.”
Headquartered in Arlington, Va., Ashoka elects emerging social entrepreneurs to an international fellowship of their peers, providing significant financial support and an array of pro-bono strategic and professional services, primarily through three strategic partnerships: McKinsey & Company, Hill & Knowlton, Inc. and the International Senior Lawyers Project. Additional support is available from Ashoka for Fellow-initiated collaborations and exchange visits.
“Ashoka is a global organization that works to elevate and strengthen the citizen sector,” said Ashoka founder Bill Drayton in announcing this year’s Fellows. “We do this by supporting those who have the kind of qualities traditionally associated with leading business entrepreneurs — vision, innovation, determination and long-term commitment — but are committed to systemic socialchange in their fields. Ashoka Fellows are recognized for their innovative solutions to some of society’s most pressing social problems.”
Camp To Belong, now ten years old, addresses a systemic problem that Price experienced first-hand. She learned at the age of eight that she was a foster child and that she had an older sister. The two girls were fortunate to be able to develop a relationship that remains strong to this day, and Price wants other youth in foster care and other out-of-home care, such as adoption and relative placement, to experience the strong sibling bond in what she likes to call “the longest relationships of our lives.”
Camp To Belong has grown to ten states and provinces, including two camps that will open in 2006. Children enjoy usual camp activities such as swimming, sports and crafts but also have special events like birthday parties since campers rarely get to celebrate with their siblings. In addition to the summer camp, year-round programs help siblings stay in touch throughout the year, and a winter program focuses on leadership development for teens. In 1998, Price received a Points of Light President’s Service Award and, in 2000, she made the first of several appearances on “Oprah.”
Camp To Belong became the platform for something much bigger: the Sibling Connection Initiative that works nationwide to prevent siblings from being separated when families break apart — or help them reunite when separated — by educating social workers and foster/adoptive parents, and changing public policy. SCI organizes grassroots community groups and supports their efforts to call attention to the individual and societal impact of siblings separated by the foster care system and other out-of-home care, elevates the importance of siblings growing up together, and advocates for policies that support “real belonging — their right to reunite.” Lynn views the summer camps as a catalyst for new legislation on sibling placement and visitation, recruitment of more foster and adoptive families to embrace siblings, and enlightened, sibling-friendly practices among child welfare professionals.
Before founding Camp To Belong, Price was a cable TV executive and a marketing consultant. She has been a child advocate since her undergraduate days at the University of Illinois, where she organized sororities and fraternities to work on child abuse prevention. While an “at home mom” to her three young children, she became a CASA volunteer, where she began her work reuniting siblings. When the family moved from Nevada to Colorado, she formally expanded Camp To Belong. She has been the foster mother to several children and has an adopted adult son whom she first met when he was a camper. She is particularly proud of her birth children who have unselfishly shared their mom with foster siblings and generously opened their hearts to many campers.
Ashoka Fellows and Affiliates work in six broad fields: learning/youth development, the environment, health, human rights, economic development and civic participation. Selection criteria include the social impact of the idea, demonstrated creativity in problem solving, the newness of the idea and the entrepreneurial quality of the founder.
Ashoka: Innovators for the Public is a global community of social entrepreneurs who deliver innovative solutions to social problems. To build this citizen sector community, Ashoka identifies and supports leading social entrepreneurs, creates opportunities for collaboration, and builds systems and institutions that facilitate high impact social solutions. Over the past 25 years since Bill Drayton founded Ashoka, the organization has invested in more than 1,600 Ashoka Fellows in 60 countries. Ashoka's global fellowship is privately financed by individuals, volunteer chapters, foundations, and leading business entrepreneurs.
www.ashoka.org www.changemakers.net
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