“Like many foster youth, I set out to destroy myself, and it almost happened. When I couldn’t see my future on the other side of all the trauma I had endured, family #14 chose to.”
‘We don’t just give up on our kids. So we won’t give up on you.’: Foster youth shares touching story of finding belonging with 14th family
‘She said, ‘You’re the place I can be myself.’ If ONE conversation changed her summer, I wanted to help change someone’s LIFE.’: Foster care advocate urges ‘step up and make a difference’
“What if they want nothing to do with me? What if I can’t help? The first day I met the children I was SO nervous.”
‘I was burnt and forced to sleep on a toilet because I wet the bed. ‘Artreese, there’s someone here to meet you.’: Adoptee shares ‘emotional rollercoaster’ of growing up
“I was born with drugs and alcohol in my system and severely underweight. It just felt like I belonged to them. It was something in my eyes; I was made to be their daughter. ‘You’re so lucky you don’t have to deal with what we had to deal with.’ But I always felt like something was missing.”
‘Get those kids out of here!’ They began chest compressions. The pictures showed a happy family. Would I ever have that?’: Foster youth becomes adoptive mom after ‘aging out’
“I realized I’d be ‘aging-out’ of care. No one ever adopted me. I had to get a job and work. I needed to save money. I cried. I cried for the sacrifices I was forced to make.”
‘I was an ‘accident.’ My birth mom ‘tried to get rid of me,’ but couldn’t. She didn’t even want to name me.’: Orphan named by stranger in hospital room finally adopted at 26, ‘I longed to belong’
“To this day, I’m still not sure which random stranger named me in that hospital room. I was sent to a hospital for a full screening. They documented all the marks on my body with hours of questioning. I trembled in fear. In a dark hallway, a nurse – who took her job because her husband was also a survivor of child abuse – spoke these words to me. I can still hear her strong yet gentle voice. ‘Annie, the cycle ends with you.’ I finally know now, my parents aren’t going anywhere.”
