Lil Kim's time in prison inspires her to help foster youth

LIL KIM TAKES UP FOSTER CARE CAUSE:
Rapper joins DMC, John Kerry, others in D.C. to champion issue.
(October 11, 2006)

*Lil’ Kim credits her 10-month stay in federal prison for giving her the clarity to pick up foster care as her new cause.

The rapper recently attended the second annual Keeping the Promise to At-Risk Youth Conference in Washington D.C., where she joined the likes of Senator John Kerry, Princess Dalal Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia and Darryl "DMC" McDaniels of Run DMC in speaking about issues within the foster care system .

"It's not what happens to you, but how you handle it that matters," Lil' Kim said, according to Allhiphop.com. "A lot of times, we all make bad choices, but it's the experience that helps you make the right choice the next time."

The annual one-day summit was organized by Children Uniting Nations (CUN) and the University of Southern California's School of Social Work to highlight issues within the foster care system and develop mentoring programs and other educational services for foster children and at-risk youth.

Workshop topics included the effects of mentoring on children's self-esteem, psychological impacts of the child welfare system, and racial disparities in foster care.

"During that 10-month stay in prison I realized I had to become strongly involved in the children of our future so that they would not have to endure the struggles and pain that I had to go through during the difficult times in my life," said Kim.