Fresh Starts: 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)

With rising demand for healthy, convenient food options and increasing support for social enterprises, Fresh Start Food Co. fills a unique niche. Foster youth face high unemployment rates (~47%), homelessness (~36%), poverty (~65%) and barriers to opportunity; our program directly addresses these challenges while meeting community needs for nutritious food. Additionally, 25% of former foster youth become incarcerated within 2 years of leaving care and nearly half of the children born to teen moms in foster care will end up in foster care themselves- continuing a generational cycle. Fresh Start Food Co. is an innovative approach offering a supportive first job, a community of mentorship and growth, parenting and practical life-skills. Establishing a food truck as a social enterprise in Lancaster CA offers a promising avenue to empower foster youth while contributing to the local economy and food culture all while providing meaningful change and opportunities for those who need it most.

Fresh Start Food Co. will operate a fully equipped fresh food truck serving fresh, customizable fruit smoothies, protein shakes, wellness shots, and healthy meals at schools, parks, community events, and workplaces. The truck will be staffed by foster youth aged 16–24, who receive hands-on training in food preparation, customer service, and business skills along with housing stability, parenting and life-skills development. The Youth Employment Program will serve youth who are in or have aged out of the foster care system (ages 16–20) and those exiting the incarceration system with training in retail, merchandising, marketing, and customer service. Upskilling Workshops will provide financial literacy, entrepreneurship, resume building, career mentoring, budgeting, and parenting (if needed). Ongoing Growth Opportunities provide custom opportunities for each participant that is dedicated to empower foster youth for a fresh start in their next chapter.

When Fresh Start Food Co. is successful, Los Angeles County will become a place where foster youth are no longer defined by their circumstances, but by their potential. At its heart, Fresh Start Food Co. is more than a food truck. It is a vehicle of transformation—literally and figuratively. By equipping foster youth with real-world job training, entrepreneurship skills, and life mentorship, we are cultivating a generation of young people who are confident, capable, and connected. Communities will benefit from healthy meals, reduced public service strain, and a powerful shift in how foster youth are seen—not as statistics, but as leaders. The success of our work would also spark a cultural shift. Too often, foster youth are portrayed as broken, risky, or burdensome. Fresh Start Food Co. redefines them as innovative, hardworking, and full of potential.