“When you find your voice, you don’t find some new thing inside of you. Instead, you find a little more of you.” – Dan Cumberland Finding your voice initially seems scary because you worry about how people will react to what
A child’s voice. What does that mean to you? When you think about yourself at a young age, do you remember a time when your parents did not listen to you? Maybe you got in trouble and instead of listening
Growing up, my siblings were my world, my strength, and my motivation. I started raising my newborn sister and my 4-year-old brother when I was only 6 years old. My greatest difficulty in the foster care system was that I
Growing up in care, there were always assumptions about who we were. These assumptions were based on what our file said. The red book, as it was called, held our life story. Before we could even make a first impression,
I was taken into foster care at 12 years old on Valentine’s Day 2017. Before that, my life was always full of turmoil and instability. My mom had me when she was 16 years old and had already become an addict
If my younger self could see me right now, she would be so proud. Sometimes, I can’t believe I am still alive. On June 12, 2016, my mom’s ex-husband, a semi-truck driver, forced me to go on a work trip around
There comes a time when foster kids hit a breaking point. My breaking point happened when I was 13. I had been in over 30 homes in my first year in care. No one seemed to listen to me or
As a transgender youth, I’ve had my fair share of problems, but I’d like to address the fact that not all foster parents are properly trained to foster LGBTQ+ youth. I live in an open-minded home, but it was still
It is so easy for youth to lose their voice while in care. It’s sad for them to feel small during such a significant time in their life. Yet, their voice is bigger than anything going on in their case.
Listening builds trust. Really listening requires more than hearing what’s being said, we must seek to understand. Listening to, understanding, and respecting the opinions of youth who have aged out of foster care are at the heart of National Foster