Winston Rhea

The stats facing foster kids exiting care are grim, Winston Rhea strives to help foster kids overcome that by providing a support network, community, funding, and guidance to help them navigate exiting foster care and entering the adult world. 

400,000 children are in foster care in the US each year. At one time, the founder of Winston Rhea Scholars was in that number. Daniel Harris is part of the less than 1% of former foster youth who earned an advanced degree. Daniel's nature and determination no doubt contributed to this accomplishment, but Winston Rhea is named for the two people, Catherine Rhea and Winston Williams, who were Daniel's "safety net" that enabled him to take a chance on himself when he was exiting foster care. Our organization aims to extend this "safety net" to current and former foster care youths through mentorship and financial support without the barrier of a minimum GPA requirement. And while higher education was the right route for Daniel, Winston Rhea Scholarship funds could also be used towards trade programs because success is not monolithic. Most importantly, Foster care may be a part of our past, but it does not define our future.