“What might seem as huge and frustrating injustices to us mostly likely seem like another day’s work for a social worker or a for-profit hospital board. For example, I was placed in a behavioral hospital for what I believe was an unprecedented and miserable amount of time. Many things angered me, but there was nothing I could do to advocate for myself and other foster youth.
I was placed in the hospital for almost six months. I was a junior in high school, being given an elementary education. I was being taught with people the same age as me who could barely read and solve basic math problems. My dignity was taken away; I was a nobody with no voice who could do very little about my situation….
We as a group have an unbelievable lobbying power together. We can bring injustices in the foster care system to light and into the faces of higher-ups in social service agencies that we were and are possibly still part of. We can lobby our legislatures for more financial aid and we can lobby for a more transparent and progressive social service agency. We can make a difference.”
-Michael R. (former foster youth)
These are the faces of orphans who have been bounced from home to home but now we’re happy to show you what can happen when teens get a helping hand. One of these foster youth is now working for a Congressman. Others are in school full time and others are working toward a promising career.
Do1Thing encourages you to check out the Orphan Foundation which serves thousands of former foster youth across the United States. Whether we’re providing them with college scholarships, connecting them with mentors and internships, sending them care packages, or testifying before Congress, OFA is a passionate champion of foster youth.
