my story

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In elementary school I read the book, “The Family Nobody Wanted” by Helen Doss. The story is about a preacher and his wife, who financially did not qualify to adopt, but challenged the system by adopting children considered ‘not adoptable’ and building a multi-racial family! From that time on I wanted to adopt an older boy when I could. My husband and I did that. As we learned about fostering and adoption we also learned that foster care is a BUSINESS: once the family is not receiving income, the child is out. This is yet another abandonment in their life. Imagine being 18, just finishing high school, and having to support yourself by finding a place to live and paying for utilities, food, transportation, etc. Going from security and being provided for – no matter how little it may have been – to having to start from NOTHING! 

Our road with adopting a 10 year old also made us realize how broken these children really are. Our child experienced multiple abandonments from 3-9 months, and then was left with child protective services at age 6. The only world they ever knew was pulled out from under them in a matter of minutes. How does one recover from this? Those of us that grew up in a secure, loving home should really be grateful – and compassionate.

The statistics for young adults aging out of foster care are not good: the majority end up homeless and from there resort to criminal activity and experience incarceration; many are trafficked. I hope to break this cycle by providing secure housing to this population, as well as others. Hopefully, they will feel empowered and have the personal strength and self-confidence to pursue further education and or employment to live securely in the future.