As #NationalFosterCareMonth comes to a close this May, we’re spreading awareness with inspiring stories on our foster parents, employees, and youth. Today, meet foster care alumna Kemisha Swan.
Come June 1, you can go online to pick up Miss Swan’s Perfect BBQ Sauce to add to your summer cookout lineup – and thank UCAN alumna Kemisha Swan for tickling your taste buds. 
Growing up on Chicago’s West Side in the foster care system, Kemisha learned to love cooking as she learned to take care of herself. As an adult, her BBQ recipes were celebrated at family gatherings as being the best guests said they ever had. She took that feedback and in 2019 developed Miss Swan’s Perfect BBQ Sauce.
Like any ambitious marketer, Kemisha says there are several keys that make her sauce – voted top 10 in the nation by the Kansas City BBQ Society – unique. The first is the taste. Then there’s health as Miss Swan’s is not made with high fructose corn syrup, is gluten-free and has fewer calories than other commercially produced barbeque sauces. The third differentiator is philanthropic as Kemisha will donate a portion of the profits to UCAN’s foster care alumni, young adults who have aged out of the system and those who have suffered from trauma.
The author of the book “Untouchable Flame: A Memoir of a Young Girl’s Hardship and Trying to Survive Through the Foster Care System” recalls her time at UCAN as “the best experience I ever had.”
And if she has her way, people will call Miss Swan’s Perfect BBQ Sauce the best sauce they’ve ever had.
Follow Kemisha on Facebook @Miss Swan‘s Perfect BBQ Sauce. Look for the imminent debut of swansbbq.com where you will be able to order her finger-licking sauce.