HELP FOSTER YOUTH

PRESS

Press & media

Everything a reporter, editor, partner or supporter needs — the story of Help Foster Youth on one page, the downloadable press kit, quotable statements, and a direct line to us.

DOWNLOAD THE PRESS KIT (PDF)

Our mission

Help Foster Youth is a free, anonymous resource directory for current and former foster youth — and for the adults who want to help them. A young person types their ZIP code and sees only verified help that actually serves their area. No account. No email. No cost. We never provide services ourselves; we refer to the organizations that do.

The numbers

  • 6,311

    verified listings, each checked against the organization's own official page

  • 33,791

    ZIP codes covered by ZIP-first local search

  • 50 + DC

    state pages with county agency listings and confirmed phone numbers

  • 4,459

    outside links re-tested — every genuinely dead one replaced

  • 15

    new laws across 10 states, in plain language, with sponsors credited

  • 0

    accounts, logins, email sign-ups or AI chat features — ever

Key facts

  • Visitors enter a ZIP code and see only verified resources that actually serve their area, across all 50 states and DC.
  • The site requires no account, no login, no registration and no email address, and carries no advertising or cross-site tracking.
  • Crisis buttons connect directly to 911, 988 and the national domestic violence, trafficking, runaway and text lines. The site provides no services itself — it refers.
  • Separate pathways serve foster youth, adults who want to help, youth aging out of care, and former foster youth age 26 and older.
  • The site is operated by Clara Jean LaCelle. The only way money moves in connection with the site is the Gift of Hope shop, run through Shopify; there are no donation pages.

Frequently asked questions

The questions reporters ask us most, answered plainly — what the site is, where the data comes from, and how it works. Anything not covered here: email press@helpfosteryouth.org.

Quotable statements

These statements may be quoted in coverage with attribution as shown.

  • “A young person who was in foster care should be able to type their ZIP code and find real, verified help near them — without giving anyone their name, their email, or their story.”

    — Clara Jean LaCelle, founder, Help Foster Youth

  • “Every listing on this site is checked against the organization's own official page before it appears. If we can't verify it, it doesn't go up.”

    — Clara Jean LaCelle, founder, Help Foster Youth

  • “We are a directory, not a service. When a young person is in crisis, every button on this site connects them to someone who is trained and ready — 911, 988, or the national hotlines. Our job is to get them to that help fast.”

    — Clara Jean LaCelle, founder, Help Foster Youth

  • “Privacy isn't a feature we added — it's the foundation. No accounts, no logins, no email sign-ups, no tracking. A seventeen-year-old with a phone and no address can use the whole site.”

    — Clara Jean LaCelle, founder, Help Foster Youth

Media contact

For interviews, questions or corrections, email press@helpfosteryouth.org or use the form below — it goes to the same place.