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"A Milwaukee woman who came up through the foster care systen and is now a foster care youth and child advocate at the state capitol will be honored at Milwaukee's Black Excellence Awards Friday.Bregetta Wilson had obstacles to overcome in life from an early age. Her mother was forced to give her up during a struggle with drug addiction.\"I was in a group home for some time,\" Wilson said. \"Then I lived with a friend who then became my foster parent.\"Wilson said her teenage years in foster care led her to become a voice for those children who desperately needed it.Wilson was chosen as one of 10 young people nationwide in 2005 to serve a three-month internship to become a foster care facilitator. The then-22-year-old mother traveled across the country advocating and speaking out about issues related to the foster care system.\"People were saying that youth wasn't having a voice,\" she said. \"I feel like I kind of became that voice for the state of Wisconsin's youth in care.\"She was appointed by then-Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle to the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare Partnership council.Wilson now serves as the community health navigator for Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, a position that was created just for her. Wilson works to save lives in areas once branded as Milwaukee's toughest neighborhoods.\"I connect with the residents. I go to their homes,\" she said. \"I provide them with the things that are going on around the community, that are going on in their block. It's a pretty cool position and it kind of stems from my work in foster care.\"Wilson said the new position has been very rewarding.\"There have been some good things happening,\" she said of Metcalfe Park, the area she currently works in. \"Last year there were no homicides, and that was a huge thing because Metcalfe Park was known as somewhere that was not a safe place to live.\"Wilson will be honored at the 28th annual Black Excellence Awards on Friday, Feb. 22, at the Italian Community Center in Milwaukee.WISN 12 is a proud sponsor of the award series, and will feature an award recipient each day this week during WISN 12 News at 5:00."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.wisn.com/article/black-excellence-awards-profile-bregetta-wilson-1/6496003>