Victoria Rowell - Building A Better World For Foster Children

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 06:33:38 -0000

When Victoria Rowell was eight years old, her foster mother enrolled her in a classical ballet school. It was an act of love that led to bigger and better things – not only did dancing teach her to live her life with poise and grace, it also gave her the discipline to face the many challenges she has encountered. From ballet to acting, Rowell has lived a life of passion, a merit that eventually led her to establish the Foster Children Positive Plan.

Most people know Victoria Rowell from her role as Drucilla Winters on the long-running daytime drama The Young And The Restless and her role as Amanda Bentley on Diagnosis Murder (alongside Dick Van Dyke). Born in Portland, Maine, Rowell was surrended to child services when she was just 16 days old and spent the next 18 years in foster care. However, she has no doubt that it was the ballet lessons that gave her the courage and the strength to find herself as a person and to help her discover her potential. Soon after her first tentative steps into the world of dancing, Rowell received scholarships to the School of American Ballet, the Cambridge School of Ballet, the American Ballet Theater, and the Dance Theater of Harlem. After dancing with the Juilliard School of Music’s dance extension program, it was only a short step to acting and appearing on shows such as The Cosby Show and films such as The Distinguished Gentleman and Dumb And Dumber.

In 1990, at the height of her acting career, Rowell decided she wanted to help the thousands of foster children who do not recieve the same opportunities that led her to a successful career in the arts. She wanted to become a passionate voice for children like herself, and established the Foster Children Positive Plan to help children reach their potential in the arts and sports.

Today, the plan runs scholarships to assist foster children attend dance classes, sports camps, and also give them the opportunity to partake in cultural enrichment programs. And it is a cause that has attracted some high profile supporters – including Melora Hardin, Bill Clinton, and Hillary Clinton.

Rowell has become a passionate lobbyist for foster child rights, and has received many awards for her work, including an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of Southern Maine, the National Arts Award from the National Association of Counties, and the United Nations Association Award. She has appeared on a multitude of television shows promoting her beliefs, including Dr Phil and the Montel Williams Show, and is also the national spokesperson for Casey Family Services.

In 2007, Rowell released a book chronicling her time in foster care called The Women Who Raised Me, a fascinating read that reveals her courage and determination to make the world a better place for foster children.

“Growing up as a foster child, little did I dream that someday I would have my own non-profit organization dedicated to helping foster children,” said Rowell. “I [want] to change perceptions and bring national attention to the plight of over 550,000 foster children in this country, many of whom have significant educational and emotional needs, and who have suffered either neglect or physical and emotional trauma. Foster children are good kids. With guidance and instruction, they will be prepared to become self-sufficient, successful adults.”

Look To The Stars Asks Melora Hardin

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:58:03 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

You probably know her as Jan from NBC’s The Office, but Melora Hardin’s face is one that has been gracing our television screens for years. A trained dancer, she is a veteran of all the shows we used to love – The Love Boat, Diff’rent Strokes, Little House on the Prairie, Magnum PI, Friends, Monk … the list could go on and on. And with big screen appearances in films such as Reckless Kelly, The Hot Chick, Absolute Power, Thank You For Smoking, and 27 Dresses, it is almost certain that most people have seen her face somewhere.

As if television and film acting was not enough, Hardin recently made her feature film directorial debut with You, and has released two CDs of her original vocal stylings – a talent that will see her perform the role of Fantine in Les Miserables at the Hollywood Bowl in August. This will be followed by the release of her latest movie, Seventeen, – alongside Zac Efron (High School Musical) and Matthew Perry (Friends) – in October.

With the new series of The Office set to debut in America on April 10, Melora found a few minutes to talk to Look To The Stars about how people can make the world a better place.

Hi Melora. A few weeks ago you went to the bebe Luncheon and Fashion Show in LA, which was a fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Tell us a little about the day and what attracted you to it.

I found out about the Make-A-Wish Foundation many, many years ago. I started acting professionally when I was 6 years old, and when I was about 12 my close friend’s mother was volunteering for Make-A-Wish. I had appeared on some show at that time that one of these kids really loved, so I went to the hospital and met this kid about my own age, shook their hand, signed a picture. And I was so moved by that. I felt that I could do something – I could use the celebrity that I have to give back as much as I can.

With the bebe event, Manny [Mashouf] invited me – he’s a really lovely guy – and so I thought it would be a fun day. I offered my support to both him and Make-A-Wish. I had great fun. Lots of yummy food and lots of nice people, and they gave away some great prizes and people won some good things. I think Make-A-Wish is a wonderful charity.

Where do you find your own inspiration to help others?

I feel like we’re all equal, and that some of us are luckier than others – born into situations with more opportunities, more education, more love, more culture, and all those things. But that doesn’t make anyone more important, just because they’ve been born into it. So I really do feel like everyone is innocent until proven guilty, and I really do try to treat people that way. I’m often shocked when people are bad. But I think there are very few really bad people in the world. I’d say most of the people in this world are good people who do the best they can. Unfortunately, the few really bad people can affect the way we see things. So I guess it’s really trying to live and let live.

What would you say to someone who wants to help a cause but doesn’t know where to start?

I would say the first thing is the internet, that is one of the greatest tools we have in our time. Now you can go online and find anything from anywhere across the world, if you try hard enough and keep on searching. And if you don’t have access to the internet, then you can just ask – if you need something, if you’re looking for something, just ask where ever you can. If it’s the internet, great, if it’s friends and family, then start there, then branch out and just go as wide as you can until you can find your way.

How would a charity attract your attention?

Well firstly and obviously I would have to feel aligned with whatever their message is, and then secondly I would want to feel that whatever the money is that they were getting is really going towards the cause, and not just creating more and more paper to send out to people. If they send that out to everybody, then that’s thousands of dollars and hours of time, and thousands and thousands of trees. To me it’s such a waste, and it’s not a great use of money. So when I look at charities that are really successful, like Greenpeace or Make-A-Wish, they’re really using the funds that they’re gathering to do what all of their supporters want them to do. So I would say that would be a very high priority for me.

If you could start a charity, what would it be?

I’ve often said that I wish every graduate from high school would be handed a Euro Pass to go round Europe – that’s what I did when I graduated high school. I traveled around Europe for three months by myself. It was one of the most wonderful and balancing experiences, and I think that if you get out of your own backyard and see the world a little bit, you realize that there are good people everywhere. The conflicts that happen in our world are really based on politics, they’re not based on the things that everybody believes they are based on. I feel that people should get on a plane and fly somewhere, live somewhere, and have to deal with the way the cultures differ, to make friends and start to have compassion and empathy for the different ways of doing and being. That’s one of the greatest gifts you can give a young person, and I really wish there was such a program.

I just think we would have a much better chance of peace if people got the chance to see the world and spend a little time traveling. Even if it’s the only time they ever do it in their whole lives. I think it’s appalling to me that we have a president who never traveled out of this country until he was elected. I don’t know how you can possibly run a country when you haven’t seen other countries and the way they live their lives. You don’t get a sense of that from television. You just don’t.

That would be a charity I would be really interested in if there was such a thing, where young people had the opportunity to see the world and learn a little about other cultures by being immersed in it.

Are there any other charities or causes you support that you think need help?

I’m on the Board of Directors for Victoria Rowell’s Foster Children Positive Plan, which brings fine arts to foster children. It means that if a foster child would like ballet lessons, we get them their lessons and whatever they need. I have found that it really reaps benefits. Victoria Rowell is a soap actress here and was a foster child. She had a great foster family that put her into ballet, and from there she became a successful actress. I find that things like that can really change someone’s life.

What do you think are the biggest problems facing the world today, and how can one person make a difference and help solve them?

I think we are a consumer-driven society, and that really affects all of us. People really don’t know much about it. I just got emailed a video called The Story of Stuff. It’s really wonderful and very informative about where our “stuff” comes from, how it becomes our stuff, and then where it goes. And how that affects the environment to a really drastic and horrible degree. You know, when you look at our stuff today as opposed to the 1930s, things were made to last back then. Now things are made to break, so that you have to buy more. And its really so unfortunate for our planet. The more things we make, the more the planet suffers. It’s really fascinating, and I would encourage everybody to have a look at that video, because it really taught me a lot.

I think there are a lot of simple things people can do. You know, yesterday I was at Whole Foods buying my groceries, and I bought seven cloth bags that from now on I’m going to take my groceries home in and keep using them every time. I’ve wanted to do that for a long time, and finally I said this is something I can do.

The environment is really a serious issue, and it really doesn’t take that much to make a difference. I would just say that people should do whatever they can do – it’s good not to litter, it’s good not to pollute, it’s good to recycle when you can.

Then there are food issues.

In our country, we have more childhood diabetes now than we have had ever before. And that’s because everything is packaged with sugar. So when someone thinks they are giving their child a slice of bread, they are actually giving their child a slice of bread that has sugar in it. Everything that they’re eating has sugar in it. Then we end up putting kids on anti-hyperactive drugs instead of adjusting their diet and realizing that sugar is a drug. I have a real issue with sugar because I really see how it changes my kids’ personalities, and it’s a really tough one because at every single party they go to there’s sugar, it’s just constant sugar for kids. I’m sure it’s different in different parts of the world, where sugar isn’t quite so available or common. But in Western culture it’s a problem, and I’m concerned about that because I do have young kids.

Can you give our readers a final message on how they can make the world a better place?

You have to be aware and conscious. I understand it’s hard, it’s easier to slide through life and pick up what’s there. But it starts with just one person. The more conscious the person can become the better. Whatever they feel they can wrap their brain around and take on and feel responsible for, the world will become a better place.

Thanks for your time, Melora.

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