Foster care graduate is among 100 outstanding youth leaders in U.S.
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As a new convert to the Church when he was 12 years old, Ryan Dollinger remembers fervently praying to his Heavenly Father to not make him go into foster care. But despite not having his prayer answered in the way he wanted, he knows the six years he spent in foster care were for his good. This faith came in no small part from his knowledge of the gospel and the character of the Father.
"I knew everything is going to be OK because Heavenly Father loves us," he said.
Growing up in Taylorsville, Utah, Brother Dollinger had friends who were members of the Church but he never thought or knew much about it. When he was 12, he saw the missionaries and recognized that they had something he wanted, he said, even though he didn't know what that was. After hearing the lessons, he eagerly joined the Church. It was only a short time later that he was placed into foster care in Texas, where he stayed until "aging out" six years later. Because of that experience, Brother Dollinger has since tried to help foster kids out in every way he can. It is for these efforts he was honored as part of their celebration of National Foster Care Month, held during the month of May, as one of 100 Outstanding Youth Leaders in America for 2009 by the Foster Club, the national network for youth in and graduated from foster care. Honorees were chosen based on their leadership, accomplishments, educational achievement and community service. Both youth in foster care and alumni were selected. Honorees were nominated by various people and selected by FosterClub.
After graduating from high school in 2005, he enrolled at Lamar University, where he is now studying social work. In 2008, he also became a founding member of the Foster Care Alumni of America and is currently serving as the Texas president. He said the goal of the organization is to try to change some aspects of what he and other former foster care children experienced both while in the system and upon aging out, such as not having a place to go for the holidays, not knowing who to ask for dating advice and other such overlooked issues.
He said the things for which he was honored and the other work he does in relation to foster care aren't things he looks at as a chore or as tedious in any way. "I wake up on the morning and it's not work for me," he declared.
He said he is impressed with the strength of the people he works with. Being in foster care can create some of the most resilient people, he said.
"You learn how to overcome things," he said. "[Foster kids] keep going when most people would give up. If someone would give them the time of day they could make a difference."
His work also gives him an opportunity to follow the commandments and better understand the scriptures, he said. Members are commanded to take care of the poor and sick, but also the fatherless, he pointed out. And, he said, in reaching out to youth in foster care, he finds his work is also a good missionary tool.
After graduating from college, Brother Dollinger said he plans to attend law school in preparation for a career in foster care advocacy. He has outlined five areas in particular that he would like to see changed: education, since many youth miss out on some aspects of basic education from changing schools so often; health and wellness, making sure youth get the treatment they need for whatever ailments they might have and making sure they are getting the right amount of medication no matter where they are; fiscal responsibility, in making sure that foster parents are using the money allotted to them by the government for the caring of their foster children instead of pocketing it, an unfortunate practice that sometimes happens, he said; stability for the youth in the form of alumni support and other measures to try to reduce the large number of post traumatic stress disorders among foster care youth; and letting the youth have a voice in where they will be going next.
He said he is who he is because of his experience and because he was blessed to have support during that difficult time in the form of Church members no matter how many different homes he found himself in during those six years. He said he hopes he can do the same. Although no person's life is perfect and each has his or her own trials, he said what everyone has to go through is for his or her own good and ultimately for a reason. What members can do when facing a trial is simple, he said: Live the standards.
"When you live the standards, everything else just falls into place."
