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Children of the System
by Richard Bermack
Sept-Oct 2001
“I was born an illegitimate child, I
also spent most of my childhood in and out of foster homes, and to top
it off, I landed in an orphanage.” Marilyn Monroe, from
Marilyn by Gloria Steinem and George Barris
 Children
raised in foster care are as much a part of American society as children
raised by their biological parents. Marilyn Monroe, an icon of American
culture, was a product of the system. Like many children of the system,
she developed a strong sense of social concern for the disadvantaged.
She was a strong proponent of working people and civil rights. In Marilyn,
Gloria Steinem describes how Monroe used her celebrity status to break
the color barrier by persuading an all-white jazz club to let  Ella
Fitzgerald perform. In this issue we look at two other children of the
system and their desires and efforts to help others, Tyler
Vinciguerra works at The Arc San Francisco helping people with developmental
disabilities, and Scott Amyx a former Alameda
County Independent Living Skills program graduate who now owns the L'Amyx
Tea House, and is using his business skills to hold a fund raiser for
the ILSP Auxiliary.
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