My name is Hilda Omarai Lira, and I am on track to graduate with my bachelor’s degree in May 2026 from California State University, Northridge. I am a proud intern of Rebound Scholars and a participant in the Resilient Scholars Program, where I have worked and researched foster youth experiences to better understand the barriers we face and to help shape my plan for a future Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program (STRTP) in Ventura County.

Professionally, I am working with Ronnie’s House to launch this STRTP, continuing the legacy of Joni Emmers’ First Step Group Home. My vision is to advance trauma-informed, healing-centered care that ensures foster youth are not left to navigate adulthood without stability, opportunity, or hope.

My academic and research journey has also led me to partner with the National Foster Youth Institute (NFYI), where I contribute to advocacy efforts that assure meaningful change is being made in policy and practice for foster youth nationwide.

My passion is rooted in lived experience. From age 15 to 21, I was in the foster care system. Like many youth, I carried the weight of survival before I could fully pursue my education. Now, with stability and determination, I have turned those challenges into fuel for leadership and service.

Today, my advocacy focuses on building bridges for foster youth — through financial stability,

expanded education access, and healing-centered support — so that no young person is one birthday away from homelessness. With my academic foundation, professional partnerships, and personal resilience, my future is clear: to graduate, lead, and transform the foster care system so that every youth has the opportunity to thrive.