Naples, Fl (October 27, 2022). Youth Haven, Inc. is excited to announce that the keynote speaker of their upcoming Healing Youth luncheon, Rob Scheer, founder and CEO of Comfort Cases, an international non-profit organization that promotes hope and dignity to youth in foster care, will be visiting its therapeutic campus in Naples, FL, on Tuesday, November 1, 2022.
Scheer, a former youth in foster care and author of “A Forever Family: Fostering Change One Child at a Time,” will be visiting to share his personal story and inspiring message with Youth Haven’s children and teens.
Healing Youth, scheduled for Wednesday, November 2, 2022 at Sea Salt, will support the programs and services that improve the lives of abused and neglected children and teens residing at Youth Haven.
“We are thrilled that Rob Scheer will be visiting our campus to speak with our children and teens,” said Linda Goldfield, Youth Haven’s Chief Executive Officer. “It’s an amazing opportunity for our youth to learn from someone that has been through similar experiences.”
For media inquiries, please contact Laura Lafakis, Youth Haven Director of Development, at 239-687-5175 or Laura.Lafakis@youthhavenswfl.org.
About Rob Scheer
At any given time, there are approximately 437,000 youth in foster care in the United States. An estimated 700 children enter the system each day, and most arrive with little more than the clothes on their backs. Those who do have belongings are often given a trash bag in which to pack up and carry their life’s treasures.
Rob Scheer experienced this indignity firsthand. Over forty years ago, he entered foster care and walked up to his foster home carrying a tattered and torn trash bag. He aged out of foster care at the age of 18, became homeless, and again carried his possessions in a trash bag.
After serving in the military and moving on to have a successful career as a banker, Rob, along with his husband Reece, decided to grow their family by adopting from the foster care system. Eleven years ago, four of his children arrived on his doorstep with their belongings in trash bags. Rob was floored. How, after forty years, were children in the foster care system still carrying their things in a bag used for trash?
Rob and his family decided it was time to change this practice and the idea for Comfort Cases was born. With the vision of assembling backpacks filled with comfort and personal care items to deliver to local DCFS, the Scheer family invited their community to pack some cases. The first Packing Party was held in December of 2013 and shortly thereafter Comfort Cases was established as an official 501(c)3.
Since being founded in 2013, Comfort Cases has been featured on The Ellen Show, The Today Show, The View, and NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, just to name a few. In 2017, an Upworthy video featuring Comfort Cases received over 150 million views and in 2018 Rob Scheer was named one of CNN’s Heroes. Rob and Reece Scheer are also featured in Bryce Dallas Howard’s documentary film Dads on AppleTV+.
Rob is the host of Fostering Change, a weekly audio and video podcast that brings in guests of prominence who discuss issues regarding foster care, adoption, LGBTQ+ and other timely and topical issues. Now in its 4th year, Fostering Change has been ranked the #1 Podcast for Adoption and Foster Care issues for two consecutive years.
The author of A Forever Family: Fostering Change One Child at a Time, Rob’s memoir tells the inspiring story of his journey from foster care to foster parent and his drive to rebuild a broken system.
To date, more than 185,000 Comfort Cases® and Comfort XL duffel bags have been distributed to children in foster care in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and now in the United Kingdom, with Comfort CasesUK launched in 2022. Rob’s ultimate goal is for every youth to receive a Comfort Case® upon entering foster care.
In May, 2022, Rob received an Honorary Doctoral Degree, a Doctorate of Humane Letters, from Lynn University, where he also delivered the commencement speech.
Rob lives in Maryland with his husband Reece, their five children and multiple pets including dogs, goats, chickens and a pig named Penelope.
For more information about Comfort Cases, please visit: www.comfortcases.org. You can follow Comfort Cases on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok and LinkedIn.
About Youth Haven, Inc.
Youth Haven, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit agency, is Collier County’s only emergency and residential emergency shelter for children and teens removed from their homes due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment. In continuous operation since 1972, Youth Haven’s therapeutic campus, located in Naples, Florida, houses 70 youth with a waking staff system that allows for around-the-clock specialized care. Youth Haven provides programs that create transformational change in its youth. Youth Haven is a COA nationally accredited organization, a member agency of the United Way of Collier and the Keys, and a Naples Children & Education Foundation grant recipient. It also holds a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator. Its mission is “To provide Home, Hope, and Healing to abused and neglected children and teens in Southwest Florida.” For more information, please visit youthhavenswfl.org or call 239-774-2904. Follow Youth Haven on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
###