‘You can help shape a kid’s life’: Foster youth celebrate Las Vegas graduation

Eighteen-year-old Isaiah Holliday’s future is bright. A 2025 Durango High School graduate and soon-to-be UNLV student, he hopes to become a lawyer and a judge one day.

Holliday and his foster father gathered on Wednesday alongside other foster high school graduates at the Clark County Family Services building. The community came together to set up foster children for success and celebrate their accomplishments.

Three years ago, Holliday and his two younger siblings came into the care of James Renfro. Now, Holliday has a support system that’s going beyond just getting to legal adulthood and finishing high school.

“Even though I graduated, I get to still live with my parents, and they’ll be able to help me transition to college and all the challenges I come across,” he said. “I know that I can completely lay back on my parents, and they’ll be able to help me out.”

When Renfro and his wife moved to Las Vegas from Texas, he felt a calling to become a foster parent and help kids in crisis, he said.

He urged anyone capable of becoming a foster parent to consider getting their foster license and providing stability and mentorship.

“You can help shape a kid’s life,” Renfro said. “But more importantly, I love my kids.”

Clark County Family Services had 99 high school graduates this year, which is an increase compared with previous years, said Lisa Martinez, a deputy director of Clark County Family Services.

She attributes the increased graduation rate to support from foster families. Currently, Clark County needs more foster parents willing to open their home to sibling groups and teenagers. She encourages people considering fostering to reach out to Family Services.

“Take that first step. It really makes a difference in a youth’s life,” Martinez said.

Future Success Fair

The Children’s Advocacy Alliance of Nevada helped sponsor the fair. The organization advocates for child welfare policy across the state. One of their efforts has been to help foster children transition as they age out of the system.

“When people have families to fall back on, they’re less likely to end up in the justice system or unhoused,” said Tara Raines, the alliance’s deputy director.

Children’s Advocacy Alliance of Nevada helps provide the support and policy recommendations former foster children may not otherwise receive as young adults. One of those efforts was to connect foster children with resources for starting their life at the celebratory fair.

Spread throughout the auditorium hall were booths offering resources to help foster children successfully enter adulthood. Nevada State University, EmployNV and Rize Credit Union were among some of the vendors there to help.

There were also booths just for gifting. One room attached to the auditorium was filled with carry-on sized suitcases and new home essentials. Graduates could take a bag and then fill it with pots, laundry hampers, backpacks and more.

Another booth had a special surprise: a cardboard music box from the Las Vegas Raiders with a hat inside. The Raiders have been a longtime supporter of Clark County Family Services, and this is their second year supporting foster graduates at this event, said Lilah Haye, government and community relations specialist for the Raiders.

County Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick sponsored the event and worked with her team to provide a handmade lunch for graduates and their families. A buffet-style table was set with Alfredo pasta, spaghetti, pizza, fruit and deli trays prepared fresh on-site that morning.

As a commissioner and mother, Kirkpatrick said she sees the potential each kid has for success when they are given the resources to achieve.

“We have watched so many kids be successful, and that inspires you to do the next big thing,” she said.

Contact Megan Howard at mhoward@reviewjournal.com. Follow her on X at @meganmhxward.