New York, NY (October 24, 2023) – You Gotta Believe (YGB) announced today that actor Cody Saintgnue and actress Sharon Catherine Brown will join its Board of Believers, a group of passionate volunteer advocates who dedicate themselves to helping the organization find loving, permanent parents for older children in foster care. For Saintgnue and Brown, YGB’s work finding families for foster kids is personal. Saintgnue spent time in the foster care system before he was adopted at age twelve, and Brown adopted her beloved son from foster care.
Santignue and Brown connected with the organization earlier this year when they performed in YGB’s 9th annual Benefit Concert, Voices: Stars for Foster Kids. Immediately, both actors became vocal supporters of YGB’s mission, using social media to highlight the critical need for loving families for older kids in the foster care system and share their stories of being part of forever families formed through foster care adoption.
“We are honored to have Cody and Sharon join our Board of Believers,” said Jennifer Pinder, Executive Director of You Gotta Believe. “They each have their journey with foster care and understand our kids and families better than anyone. Sharon became a parent through foster care adoption, and while her son was a baby when they were connected, he is now nineteen years old. And Sharon relates to our mantra that we never outgrow the need for family! Cody is a foster care survivor and generously shares his personal story to advocate for foster youth still waiting in the system. Our young people admire and connect with him; his experience is emblematic of the more than 400,000 kids in the foster care system — all of whom entered the system through no fault of their own.”
“YGB’s mission to find permanent families for older foster youth hits home for me. I was a foster kid for four long years. When I was 12, everything changed because I found my forever family when I met my mom, Brenda,” said Saintgnue. “I’ll never forget the moment I asked if I could call her mom, and her response was, ‘You can call me anything you want, Cody.’ I thrived because I had her unconditional love and support. Every child has the potential to flourish; it just takes one adult to step in and make that happen. I’m proud to join the Board of Believers at You Gotta Believe. I love their mission to find a family for every kid in foster care, and I am especially honored to step into this role alongside the amazing Sharon Catherine Brown, whom I love and deeply admire!”
“Adopting my son changed my life,” said Brown. “Every kid needs a family that loves them like I love my child, and you get so much back when you’re a parent. I’m excited to work with YGB to help find every kid in foster care the family they deserve. The fact that I get to work alongside Cody makes it even better. I loved him the moment we met. He is a remarkable young man, and I’ve appointed myself one of his aunties. I am just so proud of him and proud we can advocate for foster youth who need forever families together.”
Saintgnue and Brown’s arrival on the Board of Believers coincides with National Adoption Month, an initiative of the Children’s Bureau that seeks to increase national awareness of adoption issues, bring attention to the need for adoptive families for teens in the U.S. foster care system, and emphasize the value of youth engagement. YGB uses this time to renew its commitment to finding families for the more than 423,000 children and youth in foster care and celebrate those who make a meaningful difference in their lives.
