SPONSOR A STORY.
PRESERVE A HISTORY.
Sponsor a Narrator: Beyond the Case Files
Your support makes it possible for people with lived experience in DC’s foster care system to share their stories with dignity and care. Every contribution directly funds narrator stipends, ensuring participants are compensated for their time, expertise, and emotional labor.
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Why Sponsorship Matters.
Foster care isn’t just a system — it’s a story still being written. Washington, DC’s history is incomplete without the voices of those who’ve navigated the Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA). Yet these stories are largely missing from the city’s archives.
By sponsoring a narrator, you’re helping fill this gap and ensuring these vital stories are preserved at the People’s Archive at the DC Public Library, the first archive dedicated to DC youth in foster care. Your contribution doesn’t just capture personal histories—it affirms that these voices matter, shaping how DC’s history is remembered today and into the future.
Every narrator you sponsor contributes to a living archive, told in their own words. This is history-making work:
Preserving the realities of love, community, and resilience that existed despite systemic challenges
Documenting the ways DC foster youth continue to lead, create, and care
Ensuring future generations can access, learn from, and be inspired by these stories
Your sponsorship makes these stories possible and ensures the next chapter of DC history includes voices too often overlooked.
Fund a Voice. Spark Reform.
FAQs
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Your support directly funds the stories being told in Beyond the Case Files:
$400 – Covers a full filmed interview with a DC foster care alum (21+)
$275 – Covers a full filmed interview with a current DC foster youth (under 21) or partially funds an alum’s interview
$125 – Supports written testimony contributions
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We believe all participants should be compensated fairly for their time and expertise. Stipends for youth are often lower due to standard practices in youth engagement, but every contribution ensures their voices are valued and heard.
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Yes! Any amount makes a difference and helps us uplift stories from those most impacted by the child welfare system.
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Absolutely! Many sponsors choose to fund multiple interviews or provide ongoing support to ensure we capture a wide range of voices.
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You can help by sharing our campaign, hosting a community screening, or connecting us with organizations and individuals who care about child welfare reform.
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