Extra-Ordinary Life (XOL) is a Washington DC based charitable program established to nurture and enrich the lives of teen girls living in foster care environments. With a belief that:

" the only difference between an “ordinary” life and an “extra-ordinary” life is a little “extra”.

XOL provides the “extra”…the extra exposure to people, places and opportunities that enables them to see beyond their immediate circumstance and inspires them to achieve their full potential. 

OUR PURPOSE
Every child deserves the love of a caring adult.  Yet every year, thousands of abused and/or neglected children in the District of Columbia are in need of safe, permanent, nurturing homes. Too many children spend years moving from one temporary home to another with no family to call their own.  There are a number of agencies and community organizations that work tirelessly to lead these youth to safety, restore their hope and facilitate healing.  XOL seeks to augment these efforts by providing aspirational experiences that challenge, invigorate, and expand a child’s view of life’s possibilities and therefore inspires them to pursue a positive direction for their life. 

OUR PROGRAMS
XOL programs are both local and global in scope and are designed to augment the functional/life skills training currently available to foster children.  XOL programs seek to “shake things up” and ignite a spark of curiosity that entices our girls to try new things and let new experiences “flip the script” on their perception of life. 

We target teen girls, age 13-18, as they still are impressionable and tend not to be a focus since the odds of adoption are low as a child get older in age.  Yet, they are transitioning to young adulthood and in most need guidance as they begin to make important life decisions and “age out” of the foster care system.  XOL programs:     

Through local and global experiences XOL exposes participants to exceptional people and opportunities that fuel their dreams and inspire them to make a reality despite challenging circumstances.

I. LOCAL EXPERIENCES

• Extra-ordinary Workshops – activities that interface our girls with people who have excelled in a variety of traditional and non-traditional fields (i.e. business, sports, philanthropy); people who have defied odds to be successful; those that have made a tremendous contribution to their community or society; or a visit to a special, unique, motivational or seemingly unattainable such as the white house, an Embassy dinner, lunch with a female CEO’s, or a college tour.
• Future Paths Programs – We expect all XOL girls to matriculate to a college program. As such, we seek to forge relationships with organizations and programs that will position our students to be accepted and successful in college and beyond. Additionally, XOL will establish internship opportunities with local companies to create a link between professional/career aspirations, goals and the paths to achieve them.

II. TRAVEL EXPERIENCES

XOL will use travel as a vehicle to reinforce the belief that “world is their oyster”. For foster girls – most of which have not traveled beyond the beltway—a national or international trip is journey is eye opening and potentially life changing.

For its inaugural journey, XOL will be taking take 8 talented young women to the World Cup in South Africa, July 5-16, 2010. A global event of this magnitude provides a unique platform to expose the girls to various cultures converging in the spirit of competition, pride, and the pursuit of excellence; regardless of borders or personal circumstance. Further, the games exemplify the ideals and rewards of hard work, determination, and discipline – key ingredients to success. We want the girls to see and feel the energy of limitless potential; to inspire them to believe that THEY too, have limitless potential. The World Cup games are the backdrop to a broader in-country learning experience that includes cultural, educational, recreational and social activities. In subsequent years, XOL will travel to other unique destinations that provide an equally illuminatingexperiences.

AN ADVENTURE OF DISCOVERY, LEARNING AND BROADENING
Most of our girls have not traveled beyond the beltway, let alone around the world. We will embark on an exciting 10-day journey that begins in Johannesburg. We will learn about the people and events that shape the rich history of the country and interface with orphan similar teens.

Each day the girls will participate in supportive discussions, journal writing and blogging; enabling other foster teens at home to share in their experience and see the journey through their eyes.

XOL has partnered with Child and Family Services of the District of Columbia (CFSA) to select trip participants known as “XOL Ambassadors”. A panel will select 14 foster girls (age 16-18) to travel to South Africa in July via a competitive process based on academic performance, interviews, an essay and letters of recommendation.

GETTING READY TO TRAVEL
Most of our girls have never traveled outside the beltway, let alone around the world. It is important that they are prepared and comfortable as they embark upon this new experience. XOL will sponsor a variety of fun workshops to include topics such as:

• Travel, Culture & Etiquette – MAY 222,2010 (African Museum of Art)
• Health and Beauty – JUNE 2010
• African Ancestry – JUNE 2010

EMAIL PALS and TRIP HOSTS
Our girls have been matched with orphan teens in South Africa through the Johannesburg Child Welfare Society who will serve as trip hosts. The young ladies have met via email and begin a dialogue that will commence when they meet in person in SA. Dell Computers has donated laptop computers to facilitate the communication. Our girls are excited to get a “preview” of the country and culture through the eyes of a their peers. It is our hope that this is the beginning of friendships that extend well beyond the trip. All of the girls will maintain trip diaries and post blogs to the XOL site so other can share in their thoughts and feelings during the experience.

Journey for Change founded by Malaak Compton Rock www.angelrockproject.com

POST TRAVEL
Trip participants are required to serve as XOL Ambassadors for one year following the trip. This enables XOL to continue to nurture and mentor the girls so the momentum and energy of the experience is not lost upon returning home. This aspect of the program is modeled after the successful “Journey for Change: Global Ambassador Program” founded by Malaak Compton Rock. Our goal is to supplement their current foster care support system and positively influence the major life choices they face as they approach graduation from high school. In the role of an XOL Ambassadors, the girls will speak at schools and planned events, blog, participate in service projects and encourage other foster care teens by sharing their experience.


Click here to read the "Time for Kids" Magazine article on Malaak Compton Rock and the extraordinary work that she is doing through the Angel Rock Project and Journey for Change.