Hope & A Future Enlists Michael Oher to Kick-Off Awareness Walk, April 7

PHOENIX, April 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Hope & A Future, the only Arizona community-based organization highly specialized in providing programs and services to teens in foster care, welcomes Michael Oher to Phoenix on April 7. His visit marks the 2012 fundraiser and awareness event Strike Out Child Abuse Walk, which is open for registration now and is anticipated to attract hundreds of walkers. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, community partner with Hope & A Future, is the presenting sponsor of this year's Walk.

"Our teens will relate to Michael in a unique way," said Jesse Curry, board member of Hope & A Future. "Foster youth are so often overlooked, 90 percent will age out of the system without ever being adopted which is why Michael's story of resilience is so powerful. We believe his visit will go a long way in inspiring an attitude of perseverance in our youth."

"Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona has a long-standing history of support for the Arizona community, with a focused commitment to the children of our state," said Rich Boals, president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona. "We are appreciative of the opportunity to work with the Hope & A Future organization to support the work they are doing to improve the quality of life for Arizona's youth."

Michael is scheduled to address the crowd of walkers on April 7 at the Strike Out Child Abuse Walk and Arizona foster youth at a private event later in the day. Families and individuals who are unable to participate in the Walk can still help by gifting Michael's book, I Beat the Odds, to an Arizona foster teen for $10 at the Hope & A Future website. The organization seeks to place a book in the hands of every foster youth in the state.  

Hope & A Future begins their assistance when a child becomes a ward of the state. The organization is often the only consistent presence in the lives of the youth they serve, as many will be placed with multiple foster families throughout their adolescent years.

It is during those years when Hope & A Future seeks to make a difference. Programs are a bridge for foster youth to enter into young adulthood with the support they need, from help with education—like the scholarship program that debuts this year in collaboration with Grand Canyon University—to workshops that teach them about budgeting and general life skills. 

The Hope & A Future annual Strike Out Child Abuse Walk, on Saturday, April 7, 2012, is a one-mile walk through downtown Phoenix to Chase Field followed by an Arizona Diamondbacks game. Walkers will meet at Civic Space Park, 424 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85004 (Northwest corner of Van Buren and Central Ave.) at 11 a.m. The Walk starts at 11:45 a.m. There is a $29.11 registration fee per walker which includes an event tee-shirt and one entry ticket to the Arizona Diamondback's game at Chase Field where the Walk route ends.   

Currently, there are over 11,500 children in the Arizona foster care system. Each year, hundreds of Arizona teens age out of foster care when they turn 18. One in five end up homeless and one in four in jail. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 3.3 million reports of child abuse and neglect are made every year involving 6 million children. Five children die every day as a result of child abuse in America.

Hope & A Future seeks to improve the lives of thousands of Arizona youth by funding programs like summer camps, life skills training and college scholarship programs for foster children and youth. For more information about Hope & A Future and the programs they provide for abused and neglected youth visit www.azhope.com.

SOURCE Hope & A Future