Austin attorney Denise Hyde initiated the Adoption Day Committee for the Austin Bar Association and has been the chair of the committee since it began.
While Adoption Day is a wonderful celebration for children who get adopted, the reality is that some children in the foster care system never reunite with their families or find new families, and instead “age out” of the system. These teens are often establishing the next educational and professional steps of their young adult lives without readily available support or financial resources from immediate family.
In 2012, then-Judge (now Chief Justice) Darlene Byrne established the Denise Hyde Scholarship Fund to provide funding for post-high-school educational resources for those youth in the child welfare system who are aging out of the system.
“Denise has tirelessly and gracefully led the Adoption Day festivities in Austin for many years and even more widely in the Hill Country,” Chief Justice Byrne said. “There is no one more deserving of having this scholarship fund named in her honor. She has truly changed the lives of many children and families for the better, continually pursuing forever families for children with her time, toil, and treasure. Let’s continue Denise’s mission of helping and empowering foster children by increasing this fund, so that it does the transformative good for children it was intended to do.”
The Austin Bar Foundation is seeking additional funds for the Denise Hyde Scholarship. The scholarship will provide recipients with $1,000 for post-high-school educational program expenses. This could include tuition, supplies, and incidentals, and could be for students attending any form of higher education, including technical and trade programs.
Any youth who was part of a CPS court-ordered services case or was in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective Services will be eligible to apply.
For more information on the Denise Hyde Scholarship, or to donate, please contact Amanda Arriaga at amanda@austinbar.org.