A Youth-Led Boutique Empowering Foster Youth

Support for foster and systems-impacted youth

Antelope Valley

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

Youth aging out of foster care face crisis-level challenges: 36% become homeless, 47% are unemployed, and 65% live in poverty. In the Antelope Valley area, where resources are limited, these youth often transition into adulthood without stable housing, employment, or support—placing them at high risk for long-term hardship. Even more startling is the fact that teen parents in foster care face even greater barriers, with nearly 50% of their children also entering foster care within 1 year, continuing a devastating generational cycle. There are currently inadequate teen-focused paid job experiences in our area. This problem must be addressed now. The high cost of living and lack of opportunity demand urgent, youth-centered solutions. Second Chance Threads offers that solution—a resale boutique run by and for foster youth, providing paid job training, mentorship, and life skills through sustainable fashion. It’s more than a store—it’s a launchpad for stability, creativity, and growth.

Second Chance Threads is a youth-led resale boutique that empowers foster youth aging out of care by providing paid employment, life skills training, and a supportive community. This grant will support our pilot launch, hiring 6–8 foster youth (ages 16–20) for 10 hours per week at $22/hour. Youth will be trained in retail operations, merchandising, marketing, and customer service while also designing a custom upcycled fashion line preparing them for creative industry employment.
In addition to job training, youth will participate in 24 skill-building workshops covering financial literacy, budgeting, entrepreneurship, resume writing, and parenting support, if applicable. Weekly mentorship and partnerships with local agencies will offer wraparound services like transportation, housing & childcare referrals, and career placement.
What makes Second Chance Threads unique is its model: youth aren't just employees—they're creators, leaders, and changemakers in a real business environment. It’s a holistic, empowering approach that builds confidence, community, and pathways out of poverty, incarceration and homelessness and into a Second Chance for success.

When our work is successful, the Antelope Valley area of Los Angeles County will be a place where foster youth aren’t left behind—they’ll be seen, supported, and thriving. In the short term, Second Chance Threads will provide paid employment, mentorship, and life skills to foster youth, offering stability and hope during a critical life transition.
Long term, we envision a network of youth-led boutiques across the county, each one transforming donated clothing into opportunity within the creative industry. As we grow, more foster youth will gain work experience, build confidence, and break cycles of poverty and generational foster care.
This project is about more than clothes—it’s about giving youth a second chance to define their future. A successful Second Chance Threads means a more compassionate Los Angeles, where every young person has a path to belonging, purpose, and success with stepping stones to gain stability & dignity.