Fostering Connections Celebrates Five Years of Supporting Northeast Florida’s Youth

By Cindy Zimmermann

Aubrie Simpson-Gotham was a kindergarten teacher in St. Johns County in 2013 when she began to notice her foster care students struggling to keep up with their peers, and she recognized that the generic academic benchmarks across the board put those foster children at an extreme disadvantage. Understanding that there wasn’t a “one size fits all” methodology of teaching, she became more and more dissatisfied with these blanket expectations and decided it was time for change.

After spending some time researching and gathering around her a circle of likeminded educators, Aubrie left the public school system and spearheaded Fostering Connections in 2019. The gap in educational and therapeutic services provided by the foster care system needed addressing, and within five short years Aubrie has made incredible strides propelling this local non-profit organization into high gear with her unmistakable passion and drive.

In the beginning, her goal was to figure out how to provide the more tangible things like backpacks and laptops for school, as well as experiences such as horseback riding and get-togethers for social integration within foster families. Now, however, she is tackling a bigger question of how her services will translate when these children turn 18 and “age out” of foster care by taking a more holistic approach.

Aubrie saw a dire need for more individualized counseling for foster children, and she has consistently championed and promoted trauma-informed therapy, insisting on the need for trained counselors to assist these children on their road to adulthood.

Fostering Connections has recently teamed up with Florida Youth Shine to sponsor a Greater Jacksonville chapter, reviving this important organization back to life after 20 years. Florida Youth Shine is an organization lead by either past or current individuals in the foster care arena to teach leadership and advocacy skills to those children currently within the system.

Fostering Connections also initiated a program in 2020 called the Career Readiness Academy. Each summer, four week-long sessions are held within a five-county region to equip teens in high school with the foundational job skills, life skills, and postsecondary educational support they need to build a successful future.

Fundraising and capacity building is always high on the agenda, and this year marks their 5th annual Night of the Arts Gala at the Friday Musicale on May 18.  This is their largest fundraiser of the year, where guests are immersed in an evening of the arts with heavy appetizers, desserts, drinks, live entertainment, and both a silent and live auction. For more information and tickets, please visit them online.

When asked what she wants to have accomplished looking back at her life, Aubrie smiles. She wants to see foster children integrated into the world with a better arsenal of tools at their ready, both emotionally and academically. She wants to see communities more involved, with citizens advocating for the specialized needs of foster children. She wants to see awareness and understanding that abolishes stereotypes and stigmas. She wants equality in all arenas for these foster children because in the end, this is the society that we create for ourselves, and within ourselves. Her plate is about as full as her heart, one might say, but she’s good with that…and this is why she smiles.

If you would like to volunteer, donate, or just simply learn more, please visit Fostering Connections’ website at https://www.fosteringconnectionsfl.org.