The Doe Fund's 2011 Annual Gala

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Each day at The Doe Fund, we hear these words from our youngest trainees, men whose childhoods have given them little reason to have any trust in the future. Yet their resilience and fierce determination to build a better life for themselves — and their children — is just one of the many inspirational facets that make this generation of "men in blue" unlike any other we have served.

For the first time ever, nearly a quarter of our trainees are under the age of 30, with 1 out of 3 younger than 25. These are the most emotionally damaged and lost young people you can imagine — the vast majority of which are a product of the crack epidemic of the late 1980s and early 1990s. With absent fathers and drug-addicted mothers, these children were removed from their homes by child welfare and placed in foster care — from which they aged out with no resources and nowhere to turn.

These young men are "Generation Blue," a group with all the potential in the world — full of hopes and dreams. Together, we can provide the life-changing opportunities they so desperately desire.

• As a result of the crack epidemic of the l980s and 1990s, the number of children in New York City foster care more than tripled — from 16,230 in 1984 to 49,365 in 1992. (Fund for Social Change, 2011)
• 23% of the young men of Generation Blue have spent time in the foster care system. (The Doe Fund Client Tracking Database, 2011)
• More than 2,000 juveniles are detained in city facilities every day, and each year, 1,200 juveniles return to the city from correctional facilities. (Public/Private Ventures, 2008)
• More than 1 in 9 of the young men of Generation Blue have spent time in juvenile detention. (The Doe Fund Client Tracking Database, 2011)
• Children in father-absent homes are five times more likely to be poor. In 2009, 5.8% of children in married-couple families were living in poverty, compared to 29.9% of children in single female-headed families. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010)
• 27% of the young men of Generation Blue are fathers themselves. (The Doe Fund Client Tracking Database, 2011)
• Among African-American families, incarceration is an especially common circumstance — more than 1 in 9 children have a parent in prison or jail. (The Pew Charitable Trusts, 2010)
• More than one-third of young African-American adults are unemployed, and that number jumps to an alarming 52% for those without a high school diploma or equivalent. (Community Service Society, 2010)