“Young and the Restless” Alum Victoria Rowell Explains How Life as Foster Youth Shaped Her Future (Exclusive)

"To have the intestinal fortitude to get back up is what really matters at the end of the day," the star tells PEOPLE

For Victoria Rowell, "being down is part of life." But what "really matters," she says, is the power to get back up.

The 65-year-old NAACP Image Award winner and The Young and the Restless alum caught up with PEOPLE on Friday, May 31, to chat about her journey as a foster youth and how it shaped the future of her acting career.

"Success looks like a lot of different things in a lot of different ways, but I attribute it to my mentors, my foster mothers and foster fathers," she said at the She Ready Foundation's A Night Under the Stars adult prom in Los Angeles.

"In some cases, my friendships, my long-term, childhood friendships, really matter. They became my family, my friends," she continued.

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As Rowell added, she found the strength to keep moving forward "daily" in her life.

"You just have to get up. It's okay to be down. Being down is part of life. Challenges, speed bumps, it's part of life, but to have the intestinal fortitude to get back up is what really matters at the end of the day," she explained.

"A lot of people don't make it. A lot of people can't get back up, so I'm very grateful," added the star.

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Rowell, who previously opened up about her childhood journey in her 2007 bookThe Women Who Raised Me, took home the Hero Award at the She Ready Foundation event, which fell on the final day of National Foster Care Month.

"Great night celebrating success in the foster care community," she wrote in an Instagram post after the event.

The adult prom, which took place at The Beehive in Los Angeles, featured an 80s theme. Host Tiffany Haddish described it as an event "for the grownups who never got to go to prom."

Related: WATCH: Young and the Restless's Victoria Rowell to Host Home Makeover Show for Deserving Families

Funds raised by the foundation this weekend will be put aside to "empower kids and young adults through job skills programs, scholarships and resources, breaking generational cycles for a life-changing journey," per the She Ready website.

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Read the original article on People.