In fall 2019, Baldwinsville teacher Colleen Dembs was beginning the school year with her new group of first graders when she received a call that changed her life forever. Aubrey, a 22-month-old, needed to be placed in a foster home for an indeterminate length of...
As the valedictorian of her Class of 2022 at Syracuse’s Institute of Technology (ITC) High School, Anjana Allay (pictured above left) has a lot to be proud of—and a lot of challenges that she had to successfully overcome. Just five years earlier, the 13-year-old had a...
Ali Hassan was recruited for Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection (HWSC) when he was just 15 and a ninth grader at the Rochester Leadership Academy for Young Men. He says he was painfully shy when he joined HWSC, but over the years he became more comfortable speaking...
Antonio Cummings, Courtney, and Chloe Gadson – all Hillside Work-Scholarship graduates – at the Wegmans in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Antonio Cummings knew he wanted to go to college, but he also wanted more real-world work experience. Participating in...
Hillside’s Therapeutic Foster Care services are designed to provide safe and nurturing care to children in a structured home environment. Marley’s story, told in her own words, details her experience working with the Hillside Foster Care team to find stability and a...
As an adoptive parent, Anna Calkins understands the complexities involved with navigating the worlds of adoption and foster care—and what a difference support can make on that journey. Calkins works as an executive assistant at Corning Incorporated, the international...
