Real Stories

Kristopher's Story Kristopher entered the Texas foster care system at the age of 10. He was removed from his family of origin after his 5th grade teacher noticed significant bruising on his torso and face. Separated from his two siblings, Kristopher would go on to live in over 20 different placements and attend roughly the same number of schools until...

Trying to fit in Hello, my name is Ernesto. I’m 24 years of age, and I am a gay man who was in foster care for six years. In 2003, my little brother and I were put into the foster care system and placed in a shelter - I was 13 years old. I was scared where I was at...

Emmie's Story I was born in Louisiana, but my family moved to Casper, Wyoming just a few years later. This became my home for the better part of 18 years. Unfortunately, in my teen years, my family life became chaotic. All things considered, I believe entering foster care was one of the best things that ever happened to me. Without...

University of Alabama - Find Your Passion, By Deirdra Drinkard, Tuscaloosa, AL -- University of Alabama student Sean Hudson could have been a statistic - instead he's a success story. The sophomore from Bessemer grew up under the foster care system, and he says he has made it his mission to show the world what can be achieved by those...

I will never forget my twelfth birthday – on that day, my social worker appeared at my foster home with two trash bags and announced that I was moving. She handed me the bags and said, “You need to pack your things.” My things. I was hurt because not only did she hand me trash bags, she didn’t even volunteer...

I pulled my blanket to my chin, warm already in my blue footed pajamas. My eyelids slowly began to find their other halves when again that thought shot through the warmth and sent cold tremors up the back of my neck and onto the top of my blonde head. I rolled onto my stomach and began to hum and bang...