RELATED LINK: The "Raise Me Up" website
The DHS joined forces with Casey Family Programs, a foundation devoted to improving foster care in America. Casey designed the "Raise Me Up" campaign, which promises to show everyday people how they can lift up and improve the lives of abused and neglected young people.
6,000 children in foster care live in Philadelphia.
RELATED SLIDESHOW: Some of the Philadelphia children who need your help
Helping to launch the campaign was Eagles first round draft pick Jeremy Maclin.
He told those gathered at the Linc about his life growing up in a poor, violent neighborhood in Missouri.
"I wanted to come out here and tell everyone that it is possible to change a guy's life. It is possible to change a young girl's life, regardless of what circumstances they grew up in," Maclin said.
He told the crowd how a woman named Cindy Parres and her family took him into their home and helped him escape a childhood of neglect and emotional abuse.
"I don't know where I'd be today if it wasn't for the people who came into my life and helped me be successful," he continued.
Three new public service announcements are airing, designed to remind us all that we don't have to actually raise a child to improve his or her life.
RELATED VIDEO: Raise Me Up PSA: "Soldier"
RELATED VIDEO: Raise Me Up PSA: Spanish version
RELATED VIDEO: Raise Me Up PSA: Radio version
"These are our children, and they're not going anywhere. Their futures are determined by what adults do or don't do," said Mayor Michael Nutter.
The ads will air on network and cable stations for two months and will be accompanied by outdoor and online ads over the same period of time.
