TWF Mother of the Year Awardee Danielle Jennings

Please come out to our First Annual Mother's Day Brunch, Sunday, May 8, 2011 from 3pm to 6pm at The Front Page Arlington (Ballston Common Mall) as we honor Danielle Jennings as Mother of the Year.

Danielle Jennings is a passionate community advocate specializing in youth mentorship and policy analysis.

As a former foster youth Ms. Jennings formed Blessed Haven Inc in 2009; a nonprofit organization for youth transitioning out of the foster care system in the DC metro area.

During her time in the foster system she actively served as a member of the MD Foster Youth Leadership Board. While attending Marymount University she discovered her passion for politics and the legislative field. At MU she served, not only as President of College Democrats for 2 years but was invited by the Democrat National Convention to speak and gather votes in Florida for the controversial Bush-Gore election of 2000.

After serving as the youngest intern on record for the U.S. Supreme Court she has actively worked with the United States Department of Justice, Secretary of the Air Force and the United States Navy as one of the youngest senior policy analysts.

As Blessed Haven, Inc.’s Executive Director she actively mentors youth not only in the DC metropolitan area but also through various partnerships across the U.S. Blessed Haven’s programs include Physical, Emotional and Financial Wellness. They also provide a Career and Educational Counseling Program. The newest initiative is a Cultural Immersion and Community Accountability program. This allows our area's foster youth vast access to the immense culture of the DC metropolitan area (via powerful community partnerships) and encourage hands-on community support of foster youth. Ultimately, this leads to a mutual respect between the community and our foster youth and other troubled youth, thus improving the rate for success and lowering negative outcomes.

As a single mother and a former child abuse victim her heart lies with the youth in these demographics and she works tirelessly around the clock to show that “foster” truly does mean family and these forgotten youth truly have a “family” in her.