Fostering Opportunities Scholarships
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Fostering Opportunities Scholarships (FOS) is an affiliate of the Ocean Beach Community Foundation. 
We are a 501 (C)(3) non-profit foundation. (ID #33-087-1198)

History

As a former foster parent and teacher in he San Diego Juvenile Court and Community School system, Katie O. Whalen-Elsbree would bake birthday cakes for her students. Then one day, the student they had celebrated the day before didn’t show up for class. That’s when Elsbree realized that he’d aged out of the Foster Care system.

It was an “Ah ha!” moment for Elsbree, and she realized something needed to be done to help former foster youth make it through college.

Since 1986 Elsbree had helped communities set up college funds to send local students to college through Scholarship America. So in 2002 she convinced a group of friends that a foundation to raise money to send former foster youth in San Diego County to college was just the ticket.

From this circle of caring individuals, Fostering Opportunities Dollars for Scholars was born.

The first grant was provided by the Thursday Club in Point Loma, and many grants since have come from San Diego Las Hermanas, the Rancho Santa Fe Women’s Fund, the Tierrasanta Junior Women’s Club, the Ocean Beach Woman's Club and numerous private donors.

Today, the organization has evolved into Fostering Opportunities Scholarships, and operates under the the umbrella of the Ocean Beach Community Foundation, a 501©(3) non-profit tax-exempt foundation. 


Fostering Opportunities Scholarships is managed by an all-volunteer Board of Directors.

Contact Information

Fostering Opportunities Scholarships
c/o Debbie Applebee
10601 Tierrasanta Blvd., Ste. G-166
San Diego 92124

​D.Applebee@yahoo.com

Mission Statement

Fostering Opportunities Scholarships(FOS) is an affiliate of the Ocean Beach Community Foundation. We are a 501(c) (3) non-profit foundation(ID#33-087-1198). Our goal is to expand the educational opportunities for foster students by providing mentors and financial support.

Founding Members

Jackie Anderson, Retired Social Worker
Katie O. Whalen-Elsbree, Retired Educator
Mary Jo Macomber, Nurse
Bonnie Feinman, Retired Social Worker
Bertie Berger-Darr, Retired Educator

Geri Shea, Retired Educator

Board Members

Amanda McIntosh, Educator
Debbie Applebee, Educator
Katherine Backman, CPA
Shonta Battle, Former Scholarship Recipient
Jo Berman, Vice Principal of Mark Twain H.S.
Sade Burrell, Former Scholarship Recipient
Susan Clarke, Motivational Speaker
Darcey Enarson, Nurse

Kenny Enarson, Business Owner
Charles Lee, Retired Director of S.D. County Court Schools
Shari Lieton-Lopez, Former Scholarship Recipient
Mary Jo Macomber, Retired Nurse
Homa Rafii, Retired School Librarian
Barbara Ryan, SociologyProfessor, SDSU

Geri Shea, Retired Educator
Alyne Strusser, Retired Educator
Cheryl Ward, Retired Grant Writer
Katie O. Whalen-Elsbree, Retired Educator
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