Introducing Our 2024 Fred and Nancy DeMatteis Award Recipient

This year's Fred and Nancy DeMatteis Award recipient, Rob Brown, is a familiar face at HeartShare St. Vincent's. Having grown up in St. Vincent's care, we are deeply honored to officially welcome him back home. Rob has continued to achieve, grow, and lead since his days with us but has remembered his roots. His mission is to guide and support youth who currently stand where he stood.

We sat down with Rob to discuss his days at St. Vincent's and his passion for paying it forward. 

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This year's benefit theme is Homecoming. What does home mean to you, and how has that changed over time? 

Home has always meant stability for me. That actually hasn't really changed. You can always count on Home. Homecoming is an event that you can typically depend on annually where a familiar group of people get together. And that's what I've always wanted - that's what I yearned for. And that's what we're building for our family now, a stable home our family can always count on.

What helped you decide it was time to "come home" to your community at St. Vincent's? 

Having children definitely influenced my decision to come home so to speak to St. Vincent's. I wasn't always sure I would have children, but now that I do I feel as though I can kind of breathe. I feel like I can actually give back in a significant way. I feel comfortable doing so at this point. We were just talking about Home. I think a lot of us who grow up in care still don't necessarily have a home to come back to once we get out of care but now we have an opportunity to launch an alumni network so that people have more identifiable place to gather and come back to going forward

What about your days in St. Vincent's stands out to you the most? 

Going to school stands out the most for me about my days and St. Vincent's. I think that's a good thing because that's how it should be. There were definitely periods of transition that were difficult and those definitely stand out but for the most part once I had a place to rest my head, I could just focus on going to school and being a kid. 

Who did you look up to growing up or in your early career? 

Most of my time in care was spent in the Clinton Hill/ Fort Greene section of Brooklyn so I looked up to a lot of typical people anyone in that community would look up to starting with Spike Lee and then I guess from there the Knicks, Michael Jordan, a lot of the hip-hop artists that came out of Brooklyn and New York in general. Beyond that, though I was fortunate to have a lot of people close to me to look up to starting with people I was in care with. Once I transitioned to group homes there were several staff members like Mr. Lofton and Mr. Jones I looked up to. There were several other people in the ADP program also. I looked up to Kenny, Andrew, Jason, Antoinette, Carbone, Eric basically anyone older than me I looked up to and I was pretty young when I got to the ADP program. And once I got to Poly Prep I was exposed to even more exceptional people, teachers, and especially coaches. Coaches are probably the people I looked up to the most growing up.   

What's the best advice you've ever been given? 

The best advice I've ever been given is to only use credit cards in Emergency and to only use cash by default. Alan Schwarz told me that and it shaped the way I use credit and handle my finances. 

What's one of the biggest lessons you've learned about yourself throughout your personal journey? 

I think over time I've learned about myself that I'll always bounce back. I think that's important for all of us who've  grown up in care to know. And we have to bounce back given the transitional of growing up in foster care. 

You've accomplished quite a bit in your life what's one of your proudest achievements so far? 

I'm proud of my children. I'm just happy that we can take care of them really given that I've grown up in care. It just feels good that we can provide for them. It feels like we've ended a negative cycle. 

What is one of the greatest challenges you had to face and how did you overcome it? 

My grandparents passing really affected me negatively for years. Despite being in foster care I still loved my mom and my grandparents and we were close. I also think there's inherent trauma for all members of any family whenever there's separation and I had to heal that as well and I'm also proud to say that my family unit is at peace. My mother, my brother, and my sister are at peace. 

What about giving guidance and support to those looking to better themselves, especially youth, speaks to you? 

I really appreciated people older or more experienced than me giving me information so it's gratifying to be in a position where I can do the same for people younger than me now and hopefully watch them grow. 

Let's talk about the alumni network: What's your vision? What do you think would be most helpful for current and former youth at St. Vincent's? 

I hope we can model our alumni network after most college networks. I think right now the biggest benefit for current and former youth is connection with people who have a shared experience. Being able to talk to someone who knows what you've been through opens doors for opportunity. 

What's an important issue you think we should be talking about more? 

Homeownership is the issue we should be talking about more. The name of the program I was in is the American Dream Program. Well, how many of the people who come out of the American dream program are living the American dream? Specifically how many of those people own a home? I think people who go through care provided they have proper education should walk out of care with significant assistance towards homeownership. Folks who grew up in care often come out of care without a home to go to, and also without inheritance. On top of that if there are college loans at play homeownership is nearly impossible. I think we need to move towards putting dollars towards programs, funds and grants, even the playing field for people who've grown up in foster care. Homeownership helps break the cycle. Its a shame people come out of care to be lifetime renters. 

How do we encourage others to get involved with their community? 

I think we should talk about foster care more to relieve some of the stigma. I've heard people refer to themselves as foster care survivors. I understand that notion because foster care is certainly to be endured-there is no luxury foster care. I am also proud of my care. It provided some stability when my blood family couldn't do so. I think if we just talk about it more, it'll then be on people's minds more. Then there will be less stigma, and people will be more apt to get involved and help. I just think it's not top of mind for a lot of people. It's kind of fringe. I think it should be more mainstream. 

What's the next big milestone you hope to achieve? 

I'm washed. I feel pretty good about what I have accomplished and I'm also excited about new opportunities in front of me. It's about achievements and milestones of people younger than me right now starting with my children. 

If someone voted you "Most Likely to" what would that superlative be? 

I'm not sure maybe most likely to go after it? I've gone after stuff. I've taken a few swings. I'm not afraid to fail and I'm grateful for that. Think a lot of the people I looked up to growing up showed me that as long as you're satisfied with the work you're putting in you should feel free to go after whatever you want. 

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