We Raise Foundation Awards New Emerging Leader Grant to Ms. Brittany Livingston

Itasca, IL – We Raise Foundation recently awarded a $15,000 Emerging Leader Grant to Ms. Brittany Livingston, who serves as the Director of Foster Care Services at Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area (LSSNCA) in Washington, D.C. Emerging Leader Grants are an investment in the development of leaders between the ages of 20-35 at Christian organizations who are leading new programs at the intersection of poverty, violence, and inequality.

Livingston receives $15,000 over two years with $10,000 supporting LSSNCA’s “Harmony Heights: Elevating the Strengths of the Unaccompanied Refugee Minor (URM) and their Resource Family” retreats and $5,000 supporting leadership development. This leadership development includes attendance at a Leadership Fundamentals Course through The Center for Creative Leadership; attendance at the Global Leadership Summit through satellite locations; and individualized leadership coaching.

Leader Profile:
Brittany Livingston, a licensed clinical social worker, is director of LSSNCA’s URM Program. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in social work from Savannah State University in Savannah, Ga., and her master’s degree in social work from Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Livingston’s career has provided her intensive social work experience in myriad communities, including in schools and hospitals, working with those who are living with substance addiction, and working in the foster care and child welfare space. She started her foster care focus seven years ago as a social worker in the D.C. metro area, and within a year transitioned into a clinical supervisor role.

Moving to LSSNCA also brought with it a new experience – serving children and youth in foster care who arrive in the United States without parents or guardians. Livingston enjoys guiding families to positive permanency options, as well as supporting her team members and social workers in doing the same. She is fulfilling her childhood dream to become a social worker, and continues striving to learn, grow, and mentor. She is passionately dedicated to the profession and the populations she serves.

Project Summary:
For over 40 years, LSSNCA has been creating loving and responsible foster homes for URMs who have fled war and persecution. These children have lost their families and their homes, and have no one to be reunited with. Research has shown that these children need a stable and supportive caregiver as they navigate U.S. culture and customs and begin to heal from their traumatic experiences. LSSNCA resource parents, or resource families, include foster parents, foster-to-adopt families, and extended family caregivers. The “Harmony Heights: Elevating the Strengths of the URM and their Resource Family” retreats will be focused on strengthening the family unit as one. The three-day retreats will include group sessions, sharing of cultural experiences, family team-building activities, and more to foster trust and communication amongst the families.

“Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area (LSSNCA) is honored to receive a We Raise Emerging Leader Grant,” said Livingston. “With this support, LSSNCA will launch Harmony Heights Camp for youth and their resource parents, providing a safe and encouraging space for them to grow and strengthen their bond. Creating new ways to meet the needs and desires of foster families, like LSSNCA does, is something that continues to excite me in my career and I look forward to working with the community on this new endeavor.”

Proposals for the Emerging Leader Grant Program are accepted twice a year. The next deadline is February 15, 2024 with grants awarded in April. For more information regarding grant requests, please visit the website at weraise.org/emergingleadergrants.

About We Raise Foundation
Motivated by the belief that freedom is grace in action (Galatians 5:1a), We Raise Foundation partners with Christian nonprofit organizations and emerging leaders working at the intersection of poverty, violence, and inequality. We have a preference for funding solutions within the areas of education, workforce development, and criminal justice and employ a unique approach to our investing by coupling program funding with a variety of robust value-added services that empower our grantees to grow their solutions. As a result of these value-added services, every $1 that donors invest through We Raise multiplies into more than double the benefit to the organizations we support. To learn more, please visit weraise.org. You can also find We Raise on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.