Heather Richardson is a former foster youth who, during her undergraduate degree, found herself living out of her car during her sophomore year. With no support system and always wondering where her next meal was going to come from, Richardson persevered to become a two-time alumna of UNLV.

That experience turned Richardson into a passionate advocate for young people in foster care. She’s now the coordinator of UNLV’s Fostering Scholars program.

Richardson said, “Students like me who don't have family privilege now know they have someone who is rooting for them in tough times and the good times, and will be there at graduation cheering for them.”

Richardson’s lived experience gives her a unique perspective, and the students she serves know she has been in the same position they have. Additionally, she professionally worked with foster youth for 16 years in Southern Nevada.

'Choose What You Become'

The UNLV Fostering Scholars program offers programming and a support network for individuals who have experienced foster care. The program recognizes that the population it supports is often navigating the transition from foster care to independence while also transitioning to UNLV. Fostering Scholars assists students who have previously experienced foster care at age 13+ during their transition from high school to university life and throughout their time at UNLV. 

In 2018, the Nevada Board of Regents launched the systemwide Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) Fostering Success Initiative, to improve support for Nevada college students who have experienced foster care, when they unanimously approved the NSHE Foster Youth Fee Waiver policy. Shortly thereafter, NSHE System Administration applied for and received six years of private grant funding, totaling $1.2 million, from the Walter S. Johnson Foundation. With a portion of the grant funding, Foster Youth Ambassador Laura Obrist was hired, in July 2019, to facilitate the successful implementation and coordination of the initiative — including its fundamental fee waiver component — across NSHE’s seven degree-granting institutions. As a part of her initial efforts, Obrist (who is a social worker, like Richardson) helped advocate for UNLV to become the recipient of the Foundation’s grant of $200,000 to launch the Fostering Scholars program in 2021, as the first campus-based support program in the state of Nevada. It's also the same year in which Richardson was hired.

A Carl Jung quote mounted on Richardson’s office wall says, “I’m not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.” She often uses the quote to remind students to “not get lost in a negative identity, but to focus on what you can control, and be in control of the choices for your future.”

In nominating Richardson for the UNLV office of community engagement’s 2023 Community Engagement Faculty/Staff Outreach Award, Obrist wrote, “Heather has been tirelessly working to build key partnerships in the community and intensively support our current and prospective UNLV students with experience in foster care.”

Rian Satterwhite, director of the office of service learning and leadership said, “In less than two years, Heather has developed partnerships with more than 20 organizations and government entities in order to build a robust and thorough network of resources to help UNLV students succeed.”

Connection to Retention and Graduation Rates

Richardson brought together key collaborators from throughout the university community to support this population of students with greater educational and social support needs. She also formed robust partnerships with key collaborators throughout the Southern Nevada to support students who have experienced foster care.

She is building a student-informed community where student coaching is at the forefront of what Fostering Scholars does. Fostering Scholars uses the Fostering Success Institute’s “Seven Life Domains” which began at Western Michigan State’s Seita Scholars program to coach students to academic success.

Research demonstrates that programs like UNLV's Fostering Scholars lead to students being three times more likely to graduate with their degrees.

In 2021-22, Fostering Scholars graduated six students with an average GPA of 3.59. In 2022-23, Fostering Scholars retained 86% of its highly vulnerable students (higher than the university retention rate of 81%). The program nearly doubled for 2022-23 when it grew from 20 retained students to 38 students.

Adam, a program participant said, “To me, Fostering Scholars is an opportunity to kickstart my semester with community support and guidance. From book funding to direct opportunities serving the community, Fostering Scholars helps me focus on school and my career.”

Maria, another program participant, said, “This program is such an amazing help and so vital to our foster youth’s success. This program allows me to have access to a group of individuals who truly care about my well-being and future. As a foster youth, knowing that you have a group of individuals for support and advice is so important, and this program provides that. Additionally, getting help with things such as book assistance helps so much, and takes a big weight off your shoulders.”

When students who have experienced foster care succeed, the community is a healthier place as young people don’t become system-dependent adults, Richardson said. Instead, they become emotionally and physically healthy individuals who turn into the parents of tomorrow.

Richardson said, “Because of the student population growth of Fostering Scholars of almost 100% in one year's time, it's incredibly important that we identify community supporters that will assist the program with sustainability long term. We are a grant-funded program, but that grant funding is not forever.”

She says that young people in foster care are our "community's children." Through this collective thinking, she’s been able to holistically problem solve, rather than passing the buck to another system. Through strengthening collaboration with K-12, by fortifying UNLV’s relationship with the Clark County School District, she helps ensure students are exiting foster care with the documents they need to enter higher education and enroll successfully at UNLV.

“Our young people don't just need pity, they need your support so they can have a better tomorrow,” she said.