Victoria Rowell Hosts Children of the Caribbean Project ASPIRE on Barbados

July 10, 2012 - PRLog -- Victoria Rowell is an Emmy-nominated actress, who co-starred in the hit prime time television series Diagnosis Murder for eight seasons, while simultaneously continuing her role as "Drucilla Winters" on the daytime drama, The Young and the Restless. She is an advocate, a mother, a former foster child and now a New York Times Bestselling author of The Women Who Raised Me," published by William Morrow/An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Born in Portland, Maine, Rowell was raised in foster care for 18 years. She trained as a dancer for eight years before turning professional and dancing with various companies, including the American Ballet Theater (ABT) II and theTwyla Tharp Workshop. After dancing, she pursued a career in modeling, and graced the pages of Seventeen and Mademoiselle magazines. Modeling led to acting -- she landed a recurring role on the highly-rated The Cosby Show. An advocate for foster children like herself, she joined co-founders Rosie Hodg e-Adams and Julien Adams in their travel to the Caribbean island of Barbados for theinagural launch of Project ASPIRE, where she will enrich the lives of foster children through artistic and athletic expression and motivational speaking.  Victoria's son Jasper, along with Justin, J.D., Jaida, (Hodge-Adams); Anique Zephrin and Dominic were also children from the United States who participated in the program.
Rosie Hodge-Adams explained: "Our goal is to promote community service and leadership in educational experiences through cross-cultural exchange."  The Foundation worked in collaboration with the Barbados Child Welfare Board and the Barbados Tourism Authority to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the Program.  "This program will give our children from the Unitted States a greater exposure and understanding of different cultures and encourage them to take part in community service. It will improve the self-confidence and interpersonal skills of our Caribbean children while raising their awareness and understanding of the diversity of communities.  By taking a creative approach to learning, activities and shared experiences, we hope to make a lifelong lasting impression through Project ASPIRE.  We want to enchance our participants' connection through meaningful community activity and involvement."