Wrapping up 2025: A Year of Growth, Grit, and Greater Impact

As we close out 2025, we’re pausing to celebrate a year that reminded us, again, what’s possible when compassion meets commitment. 

Last year, our work centered primarily on providing financial support through The Compass Project, ensuring children in foster care received the therapy they needed to heal, grow, and rebuild. And while that foundation remained strong, 2025 became the year we stretched further, reached wider, and expanded the ways we uplift young lives.

This year, we not only increased the number of hours provided, but we widened the circle of support through two growing initiatives: 

Educate to Empower

Our Educate to Empower program continued to create meaningful academic breakthroughs by giving students the support they need to learn with confidence. Through dedicated one-on-one tutoring, many strengthened their foundations skills and began approaching learning with renewed courage and curiosity.

For some, tutoring helped them better understand core math concepts while empowering them to ask questions and advocate for themselves, an important step toward becoming more confident learners. Others are still navigating significant challenges, but with patient, adaptable guidance and ongoing assessments for learning difficulties, they’re discovering new strategies that work for them and feeling more supported on their academic journey. 

These stories reflect the heart of the program: meeting each learner where they are, nurturing progress at every pace, and ensuring no child has to face academic struggles alone.

Dreams in Motion

At JWFF, our Dreams in Motion program ensures that every child has the opportunity to play, grow, and thrive, regardless of their circumstances. By covering registration fees, equipment, and other essential costs, we remove financial barriers so passion and talent can take center stage.

Through this program, foster children like Elina are not just learning new skills, they’re gaining confidence, building friendships, and celebrating achievements. From landing her first cheer flyer position to winning first place in her division, Elina’s journey highlights how sports can empower, inspire, and create lasting memories.

More than just access to athletics, Dreams in Motion nurtures resilience, joy, and a sense of community, giving young athletes a chance to shine both on and off the field. By championing the talents of foster children in gymnastics, cheer, and other sports, the program provides a space where confidence grows, friendships flourish, and every child can pursue their dreams without limits.

And one of our proudest milestones?

In 2025, we released our first Compass Project Impact Report, revealing a remarkable 14.3% improvement across key developmental and emotional well-being measures. 

Real progress. Real change. Real children finding steadier footing because someone showed up for them.

2025 showed us what growth looks like in action

More hours. More programs. More children supported. More stories of resilience.

But above all, 2025 affirmed our belief that every child deserves a foundation strong enough to rewrite their future.

Thank you for being part of this journey. Here’s to carrying this momentum into 2026, stronger, braver, and more committed than ever.

Onward. Together!