News & Updates
Rebecoming Me
For the past year the team at Better Together Productions and PBS12 have been working with Cobbled Streets.
The outcome of this work is a short film, Rebecoming Me, that depicts the lived experience of five individuals who navigated parts of their childhood within the foster care system.
On Wednesday, January 17th Rebecoming Me was officially released to the public at a FREE event in partnership with PBS12, the Common Sense Institute Colorado and the Morgridge Family Foundation.
The Premier went extremely well there was a large turn out to view the film and to learn my go to our
Charles “Chaz” Tedesco Champion Award
Shari Shink was surprised and delighted to receive the Charles “Chaz” Tedesco Champion Award this December from Foster Source. The award recognizes someone who encompasses Foster Source’s three values: education, connection and nourishment.
Cobbled Streets partnered with Foster Source “right out of the gate” in 2020, and together have been able to do amazing things for children and families in the foster care system. Chaz Tedesco, the
namesake of the award, is a great role model, one of the few government officials who truly understands the foster care experience and has worked hard to bring attention to the system while doing whatever he can for the kids caught up in it.
Shari first met Chaz when he reached out to Cobbled Streets and asked for our help for a teenager, who had just graduated from high school without a family or funds to live independently. Together, with Chaz, we raised the funds needed to give her a good start, and Cobbled Streets found a volunteer who provided a car. Given that experience, Shari said of Chaz, “There’s no one like him!” To receive an award from Foster Source, a great partner, created in honor of Chaz Tedesco, makes it even more special.
A Hard But Touching Story
A Place Called Home by David Ambroz describes his years in foster care and his struggles with
homelessness. This story, with its raw and gritty details and shocking picture of his life,
illuminate the ways the system overlooks and fails to protect so many young people. Cobbled
Streets founder, Shari Shink remarked, “in my 40 years of helping kids, I have never read a more
compelling book. A Place Called Home should be read by every person who cares about kids.”
Important Quote: “I’ve brought home the lopsided house that I made out of Popsicle sticks, carefully holding it on my lap for the whole ride back to Albany. But when we pile out of the Robinsons’ car and walk toward the station, I drop it in the first trash can I pass. I don’t need to be told that it’s no use to me now. Popsicle-stick homes are too fragile, and carrying one around doesn’t make sense anymore. It’s a burden. Why would I want to remember summer camp? I’m about to be hungry again. And yet summer camp stays with me, not in the form of souvenir crafts, and not as a fun, nostalgic memory, but as a guiding light.”
Shari Shink Receives The Lifetime Achievement Award
National Philanthropy Day in Colorado
On November 10th 2022, Shari received the Lifetime Achievement Award at an event, hosted by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, known to be one of the most inspiring events of the year. In addition to the almost 700 in attendance, Shari invited 40 special guests to join the celebration, which included family, friends, donors, colleagues and partners.
Some of these guests shared with her “almost a lifetime” of supporting children in foster care. Colleen Abdoulah nominated Shari for the award and shared her journey over 3 decades as Board Chair and donor of the Rocky Mt Children’s Law Center; Justice Richard Gabriel was a former pro bono attorney for 2 decades under Shari’s leadership at the RMCLC; Anthony Graves, Managing Director of Partnerships and Innovation at CU Denver, started his work there as a volunteer intern at age 16. Several former colleagues, as well as, long-term donors and foster parents attended. Many of them continue to support Shari’s work at Cobbled Streets.
During 40 years at the RMCLC, and 25 years litigating on behalf of thousands of foster youth, Shari understood the challenges of achieving meaningful outcomes for abused and neglected children. She fought in the courts, promoted policy change, and modeled bold, innovative practices. As an Adjunct Professor at the College of Law, she trained and inspired hundreds of attorneys and law students, locally and nationally, to advocate for this invisible population.
Justice Richard Gabriel once wrote: “It is not an overstatement to say Shari’s singular contributions in the field of child advocacy reverberate throughout Colorado and nationally, and I can think of no single person who has made a more significant and enduring impact on behalf of dependent and neglected children in this state.”
Shari is delighted that many of her guests now support Cobbled Streets, as well as volunteer and mentor youth. Each of them witnesses small miracles every day. Cobbled Streets is excited about future possibilities, and remains confident that we will move mountains to ensure that all children in foster care thrive!
When asked about the award, Shari expressed her gratitude for the many who supported her work over 4 decades, and with whom she shares this award.
10 reasons Why Kids Need Music & Art
Immersing children in the arts and music at home, through lessons, at school, and in the community, provides undeniable benefits that will help them throughout their lives.
Foster Youth Financial Assistance Program
This document offers information about eligibility for the people that are looking to utilize the Foster Youth Financial Assistance Program
9News report on the mental health of children in foster care.
County human services directors say their caseworkers have had to sleep in office buildings with children because they can’t find them a bed.
Check out this expose from Colorado Sun and 9 News Denver regarding the safety of residential childcare in Colorado.
Warning: Parts of these stories can be hard to read/watch/listen to.
Families kept in the dark about children’s safety in Colorado’s child welfare system
With bites, bruises and low pay, caretakers for Colorado’s troubled youth say there’s not enough staff to keep kids — and each other — safe
The deadly consequences when kids run away from Colorado residential treatment centers
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