Former Yuman helping foster children

Life for foster children can present some roadblocks, but a former Yuman is helping young folks pave a path to careers through a nonprofit she launched this spring.

LifeUnfolded, the brainchild of Cassandra Spade, is a self-help organization designed to ease foster kids ages 8 to 18 onto a career path in performing arts and athletics.

Spade, 23, is a 2003 graduate of Cibola High School. Now a travel agent in Phoenix, Spade became alarmed by news stories of how many institutionalized children are committed not due to illness but because there is no place else to put them, she says.

"I have friends who are clothing designers in San Francisco and I planned on opening a clothing store. But I saw how people were suffering because of the recession and it hit home since I grew up with a single parent that I realized many kids can't afford clothes. So I decided on a secondhand store for children."

The store will be the economic engine that drives LifeUnfolded, and to get things off the ground, Spade teamed up with the Art Source for Design Gallery to hold a fundraising auction, she said.

The auction takes place this Saturday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the gallery, 15186 N. Greenway Hayden Loop, Scottsdale. Paintings, photos and memorabilia from sports, movies and pop music will be for sale. Some of the artwork is donated by the gallery as well as artists themselves.

Walk-ins are welcome. For more information, go online to www.lifeunfolded.org.

The auction aims to raise $150,000 to launch the store. Once LifeUnfolded has a base of resources, its mission is to enable children to discover their artistic talents by providing skilled mentors who can guide them into a successful career.

But it was a personal experience that also motivated Spade to set up LifeUnfolded when her mother, Cindy, a fifth-grade teacher at Pecan Grove School, took in a foster child to their home. Amy Foxcroft, a trainer/manager at the Universal Gymnastics Club in Lake Havasu City, spent 1997-98 at the Spade home after being transferred from numerous others.

"I looked up to Cassandra even though she was the same age," said Foxcroft. "She had opportunities to learn gymnastics and gave me a passion for it. If it was not for moving in with the Spades, I wouldn't be where I'm now."

Foxcroft was removed from her home by Child Protective Services when she was 6 because her biological parents were "heavily" into drugs, she said. That is where all their money went and as a result, there was no food, clean clothes, nor did she often get bathed, she recalled.

"Most foster homes were hell. I told myself I'd never let my children go down that road. When CPS removed me from my own home, I was in denial and wanted to return but if I stayed, I'd probably have gone down the same road my parents did."

But Cindy Spade treated Foxcroft like a family and helped her catch up to her grade level since she was falling behind. Foxcroft also has praise for the Chuck and Linda Nelson family, who provided foster care for her younger siblings and kept their family in contact with one another.

Foxcroft said LifeUnfolded is an awesome idea, and she will speak at the auction to share her experience. She said she wants to make people see the potential of LifeUnfolded.

"Cassandra is the only foster sister I still keep in touch with. I totally respect something like LifeUnfolded. A little bit of time and money can help so much because when I was in that situation, I was ready to give up on my future."

Spade said LifeUnfolded will offer programs by trained professionals who focus on training and ultimately steering youths to scholarships and viable careers. It also will collaborate with another nonprofit, Adopt Us Kids, to provide referrals for adoption and foster home opportunities.

"What I want to do is eventually have an outlet for youth and be able to prove they can be as successful as anybody else."