join us for the annual
Gearing Up for Greatness
Sunday, August 2, 2026
Help Youth Move Beyond Foster Care and Into Brighter Futures
Support college-bound youth aging out of foster care with the essentials, guidance, and confidence they need to begin adulthood strong. Your donation to the C.I.T.Y. Trunk Party helps provide dorm supplies, laptops, gift cards, and the encouragement of a community that believes in each student’s future.
For young people in foster care, childhood can be defined by uncertainty. Frequent moves, changing schools, and unfamiliar caregivers can make it hard to build lasting relationships or feel a true sense of belonging.
Many also carry the weight of trauma, family separation, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, and attachment challenges, not because they lack resilience, but because they have endured more than most. Yet their stories are not defined by their past. With steady support and a community beside them, they can build the future they deserve.
That is why CASA of Cook County created Creating Independent Transitions for Youth (C.I.T.Y.): to help young people aging out of foster care prepare for college, careers, and independent living.
A Story of Support, Stability, and Possibility
Meet Jordan
When Jordan entered the C.I.T.Y. Program, she had already experienced nine foster care placements in just three years.
Each move meant a new school, another classroom, and another teacher trying to help her catch up. By the time Judge Taylor appointed her to C.I.T.Y., her academic record suggested she was unlikely to graduate on time. College was not even part of the conversation.
Then Jordan met her C.I.T.Y. Advocate.
Their relationship did not begin with grades or graduation plans. It began with books.
Jordan loved reading, and her volunteer met her where she was. As trust grew, so did Jordan’s confidence. Together, they uncovered something years of instability had hidden: Jordan had a remarkable aptitude for math and science.
The problem had never been her ability.
What she needed was consistency, encouragement, and someone committed to showing up. With steady encouragement from her advocate and support from C.I.T.Y., Jordan enrolled in tutoring, prepared for the ACT and SAT, explored career paths, and began to believe in a future she had never imagined for herself.
Jordan graduated from high school and this fall; she will begin her next chapter at Northern Illinois University.
Her story shows what becomes possible when a young person has support, stability, and someone who believes in them.
What Your Gift Provides
College acceptance is only the beginning. Your support helps students arrive on campus prepared, equipped, and ready to succeed.
Every donation helps bridge the gap between getting accepted and feeling ready to begin.
Together, we can turn a major milestone into a confident start.
Dorm Essentials
Bedding, towels, storage, hygiene products, kitchen supplies, and everyday essentials help students turn an empty dorm room into a place that feels like home.
Gift Cards
Gift cards to Target, Walmart, Amazon, grocery stores, and other retailers let students buy the items they need most as they transition to campus life.
Laptops
A reliable computer is essential for coursework, research, communication, and academic success. For today’s college students, a laptop is not a luxury, it is a necessity.
Making a Student’s Next Chapter Possible
youth powered.
Community Supported.
Future Ready.
What is the C.I.T.Y. Program?
For many young people in foster care, there is no family home waiting when they turn eighteen. Reunification is no longer possible. Adoption is no longer an option. Guardianship is no longer the path forward. They are expected to become independent adults, often without the support system other young people rely on.
C.I.T.Y. exists to change that.
Serving youth ages 13–21, C.I.T.Y. combines professional child welfare staff with specially trained CASA volunteers who walk alongside young people as they prepare for adulthood. Together, they set goals, build life skills, explore education and career options, and create plans for successful futures.
youth in Foster Care in Cook County
When returning home, adoption, or guardianship is no longer possible, C.I.T.Y. provides steady support that helps young people move from uncertainty to opportunity.
Every young person deserves more than survival.
They deserve the chance to thrive and your support helps make that possible.