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| MY STORY | |||||||||||
| I was taken from my parents when I was 6, and went from home to home until I was 18 years old. When I was 7, I was molested by a foster parent.Then I went to live with a really nice Christian family. It wasn't until I was a lot older that I realized that even though they were nice when I was good and they were Christians, they were still abusing me, because they would put the foster kids in a large cardboard box when we were bad. Then I went to an even nicer foster home that was Pentecostal. They had very strict rules, but they were nice. Then they had to move out-of-state, and I was not allowed to go with them. They would have adopted me, had it not been for that. Then I went to live on a farm, with a nice lady who I later sortof "adopted" as my mom. I spend holidays with her, and any other times I can. But then my birth dad got sick, and I was not even informed of his illness until a few days before his funeral. I have always blamed DHS that I did not get to say goodbye to him. I was moved around several times after that. When I was 14 years old I was beaten by my foster parents' daughter-in-law. Then I was raped in another foster home, and nothing was done about it because my case worker said I was racist, that I said it because both the boys were black and I am white. (She was also black.) They did not investigate the rape until two years later. I was sent to a group home because my caseworker said that I was a troublemaker. At the group home I had to protect myself every day because the other girls were really violent. One was even arrested at the group home for attempting to stab another girl with a knife. The group home was in a really bad section of town known for drugs, gangs, and violence. Our bus stop was a site for several drive-bys. One night we had to call the police because one of the girls knew a guy who had killed someone while stealing a car. When she told on him, he threatened to kill everyone in the group home. To get away from all this, when I was 16, I ran away to go live with my boyfriend. I was sent to live with my "adopted mom". However, she could not take care of me, an 11-year-old, her mother, and a 4-year-old, so I had to go. I went to several schools, and was sent to several "day treatment centers", which are basically mental institutions that you only go to for school. At age 19, I was still attending high school because I got so far behind by moving around so much. I had a minimum-wage job and no skills other than what I learned in high school. I had lived in six different apartments and had even been homeless. I was, and still am, in debt because I had no one available to help me learn how to get credit, or manage money. I didn't get my license until I was 21 because I was never taught how to drive and had to go to a driving school instead. I am not wanting to ache and bellymoan... I only wish to use my story as a means for people unfamiliar with how the system works to see what current foster children are facing right now and will face in the future. I decided a long time ago that I will not let myself become a statistic, but the truth is that most of the "aging-out" foster children will either go to jail, become homeless, or go on welfare, unless they are lucky enough or hard-working enough to be successful. | |||||||||||
| TO READ MY UPDATED STORY, PLEASE BUY MY BOOK! CLICK HERE! |
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| MY FOSTER PARENTS | |||||||||||