Partner News: Orange County’s Samueli Academy to open dorms for foster youth

The Samueli Academy in Santa Ana soon will open Orange County’s first on-site campus dorms for foster youth, offering students who lack stable housing a place to stay during the week.

The new three-story building will house two college-style suites on each floor. Each suite will include four bedrooms – with two students per bedroom – along with a living room, kitchen and study area.

Shay Sorrells, chief program officer at the Orangewood Foundation, a non-profit that offers services to foster and community youth, described the dwellings as “a home away from home” for up to 48 students. Backed by a team of social workers, counselors and other staff members, the students will live on campus Sunday night through Friday afternoon and spend the weekends with their relatives or foster families.

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