TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Growing up in the foster care system comes with a lot of challenges, and now, paying for the things one needs during college doesn’t have to be one of those. Texas State University President Kelly Damphousse and his wife Beth have a Foster Educational Support Endowment that provides assistance to TXST students who have been in the foster care system. The Damphousses spoke at last week’s Rotary Club of San Marcos meeting to discuss the endowment and how people could contribute to it. The Foster Educational Support Endowment will receive 75% of the proceeds from the Rotary’s annual Casino Night fundraiser, which occurs at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 28 at the Centex Wing of the Commemorative Air Force Museum at the San Marcos Airport.
Kelly recalled his childhood, which was the impetus for the creation of the endowment. His mother was raised in an orphanage when her mother could no longer care for her, and she had a difficult time with that. When his mother met his dad, they struggled to conceive, having miscarriage after miscarriage. They decided to adopt two kids, the first of which was Kelly. They moved to a small town, and the local Royal Canadian Mounted Police got to know his parents and the fact that they loved kids.
“Whenever there was a domestic violence situation or some kind of problem with young people, they would come by my parents house, and it was not unusual,” Kelly said. “Sometimes they would stay for a weekend, and sometimes they’d stay for three weeks. And sometimes they’d stay for six months. One of them stayed forever. She came to us when she was born and never left, so my mom became a foster parent.”
Kelly saw how difficult the situation was for these kids and the ways in which the system failed them.
“I grew up in this situation where I saw … [people] trying to stand up for kids who couldn’t stand up for themselves, and these young people were traumatized. They’d come into our house and they would be crying. And sometimes they’d have a garbage bag full of clothes or sometimes nothing, so they’d have to wear my clothes,” Kelly said. “There was no system in place. And my mom had to become like a de facto social worker as well, with no training at all.”
In addition to the fact that she was his mother, Kelly also loved her because of what he saw her do for these kids.
“I’ve always tried to emulate that, thinking about how I can help other people that are in a tough situation,” Kelly said. “So here we are now, some 60 years later or so, where I’m in a position now where I can help people who are foster kids.”
The state pays for tuition and a small stipend for students that come from the foster care system, but they are required to come up with the funds for everything else.
“Well, two faculty members started this program called Faces That Support Foster Children,” Kelly said, adding that one of those people happened to be one of his old colleagues from University of Oklahoma. “We kind of bumped into each other. She told me about this program. I said, ‘I want to get involved with this.’” On Kelly’s 60th birthday, Beth made a post on facebook asking people to donate to foster students in lieu of a gift, and with that, the Foster Educational Support Endowment was born.
Beth said that in two years, the fund has grown to approximately $50,000.
“An endowment scholarship puts the funds aside to where we take a proceed — 4% off of that to give to scholarships — which means that this scholarship will be there forever,” she said. “It won’t just help as a one time gift to somebody and go away. We will continue to build that up and give and give again.”
Kelly added that using 4% of the fund means that they will be awarding $2,000 scholarships this year. The two of them will also be giving a planned gift to the endowment when they pass away.
“That will get it to over a quarter of a million dollars,” he said.
Tickets are $50 for the Rotary’s Casino Night, which cover gaming chips, food, beverages and the opportunity to explore the historic Museum. There will also be a raffle drawing for a one-carat natural diamond and custom setting valued at $11,800. Get your tickets at this link smtxrotary.com/event/ casino-night-and-diamond- raffle-drawing. Give to the Foster Educational Support Endowment at Texas State University at this link givecampus.com/campaigns/ 57407/donations/ new?
