Sisters in Service: Carmeann Foster leads Rebound Inc. in supporting justice system involved youth

Carmeann Foster, founder and executive director of Rebound Inc.

In the month of March, we celebrate Women’s History Month, a time to recognize the women whose leadership and service shape communities every day. 

As part of a new Power 104.7 series titled “Sisters in Service,” we are highlighting Black and BIPOC women across the Twin Cities who are leading nonprofit organizations and working to create lasting change. 

First story in the series features Carmeann Foster, founder and executive director of Rebound Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting young people involved in the juvenile justice and child welfare system. 

Founded in 2014, Rebound focuses on helping youth transition away from system involvement and toward stability, and independence. 

“Rebound is a community-based nonprofit,” Foster said. “We serve youth who are systems involved,  young people who are both in the juvenile justice and child welfare system, and we try to move young people away from their systems involvement and toward their full potential.” 

Through programs that include residential youth development homes, transitional housing support and family resilience services, the organization works with young people facing complex challenges in life.   

For Foster, the work is deeply personal. 

She grew up in South Minneapolis during the 1980s and 1990s, a time when many neighborhoods were experiencing significant economic hardship and social instability. 

“I personally grew up in South Minneapolis in a time when the community was experiencing a lot of disenfranchisements,” Foster said. “There was a lot of poverty, drug addiction, cycles of folks falling into those sorts of systems.”

Wanting to understand those challenges and find ways to interrupt them, Foster pursued higher education in social work. She later earned a master’s degree and spent years working within youth service systems. 

During that time, she often saw young people cycle through detention centers without community support equitable to help them succeed once they returned home. 

As a juvenile detention alternative initiative coordinator, Foster spent much of her time searching for programs that could help youth transition back into their communities. After years of frustration trying to find those resources she decided to create one herself. 

“I decided to become the solution I wanted to see for my community,” Foster said. 

That decision led to the development of Rebound Inc. 

Today, the organization offers a wide range of programs designed to support young people at critical moments in their lives. In addition to housing support, youth participate in leadership development programs, job shadow opportunities and college tours that help them envision a future beyond their experienced challenges. 

Dr. Cedric Weatherspoon, a mental health therapist who has worked with youth at Rebound, said the organization provides opportunities that many young people involved in the justice system rarely receive. 

“Rebound is not just a place that houses youth and keeps them safe,” Weatherspoon said. “They also believe that our youth are our next generation of citizens, so they expose them to different things that they wouldn't necessarily get exposed to when they are out in the community or in a traditional correctional facility or a group home facility.”

Weatherspoon said Rebound’s programming helps youth explore their identities beyond labels often placed on them within the justice system. 

“They get to explore who they are outside of a diagnosis or a label that someone has put on them,” he said. 

As Rebound approaches its 12 years in service, the organization is looking ahead with future plans to establish a permanent headquarters in North Minneapolis, that would expand shelter space and transitional housing for youth leaving the justice system.

Rebound’s commitment is rooted in community and Foster believes representation is essential to addressing disparities within the justice system. 

“We are standing strong in the fact that we are a African-American run organization that is serving African-American youth,” Foster said. 

Weatherspoon said leaders like Foster play a critical role in ensuring organizations like Rebound continue to exist for young people.

“We need more people like Carmeann,” he said. “Carmeann is a very grounded, intelligent Black woman. She has many talents and she's a very passionate leader who is willing to make sacrifices where others won't to keep our youth healthy in our community.”

Despite the challenges that come with nonprofit leadership and youth justice work, Foster said, “I got into this work because I was raising my own kids and wanted to see the world be a better and more fair place for them to grow up in, and I continue doing the work for the same reason.”

Through Foster, Rebound continues to stand as a pillar in how community driven solutions and compassionate leadership can open doors for young people to create stronger futures.