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D.C.鈥檚 Child and Family Service Agency, along with Partners for Kids and Families, are collecting brand-new luggage for foster youth in a program called
For too long, kids and teens in foster care had to pack their clothes and belongings in trash bags. That is, until last year when the , also known as “Lisa鈥檚 Law,” was passed.
The 鈥淟isa鈥� in Lisa鈥檚 Law is a real person 鈥� Lisa Cohen, who was born into foster care along with her four brothers. She spearheaded a campaign to raise money to get luggage for D.C.鈥檚 foster youth during her term as president of the Rotary Club of D.C.
鈥淚 went through 13 different placements during my childhood,鈥� Cohen said. 鈥淭he thing that stuck with me was the fact that every single time that I moved, my things were thrown into garbage bags or discarded.鈥�
Cohen, 56, said every time she had to pack the garbage bags with her things, it made her feel like she had to start over.
During her time as president of the D.C. Rotary Club, she was able to write a grant for the foundation and receive $10,000, which went to purchasing 100 pieces of luggage from Samsonite.
The mother of two, who served in the Navy and will soon be a first time grandmother.
鈥淚鈥檒l be called ‘Gigi,’鈥� Cohen said with a laugh.
Helping others has become a family mission for Cohen and her kids. Her daughter is a social worker and her son serves in the Army and is with the ROTC.
Cohen choked up when asked her about the feeling she must have knowing that foster youth in D.C. will no longer have to suffer the indignity of using trash bags as luggage.
鈥淵ou do not even understand, you do not even understand,鈥� Cohen said. 鈥淚 am so thankful.鈥�
During a tour of the Child and Family Services Agency, interim director Tanya Torres Trice showed all the luggage, bags, clothes, sheets, toiletries and stuffed animals that have been collected for the kids in foster care in D.C.
鈥淚鈥檓 so thankful to Lisa,鈥� Trice said. 鈥淲e have about 560 children in foster care and an additional 1,000 in our in-home care.鈥�
Trice pointed to the support Mayor Muriel Bowser gives the Child and Family Services Agency and to everyone that donates to their program.
The goal for Bags for Dignity was to collect 1,100 bags so each foster child would have two bags.
Alysia Greaves, the program manager for the agency’s Partners for Kids and Families, said that a lot of people are donating, including D.C. United.
鈥淩ight now, we have 16 days left in this campaign, and we’ve already collected 2,142 bags,鈥� Greaves said.
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