For as long as I can remember, the child welfare system has been part of my family’s story. Generations of my family have been touched by it – sometimes through necessity, often through cycles of trauma and instability that felt impossible to break. Foster care wasn’t just a headline or a statistic to me; it was woven into the fabric of my life.
As a child, I experienced firsthand what it meant to navigate a system built to protect, yet often ill-equipped to heal. My early years were marked by chaos and survival, but they also planted the seeds of grit. I learned to fight for myself, but also carried a responsibility to fight for others who would come after me.
When I aged out of care at 18, I was suddenly on my own – and I struggled. But in those struggles, I found a path forward. I began connecting with other young people just like me, bonded by our shared experiences in the foster care system. From community awareness events to youth-led and alumni-led advocacy groups, I found my people. My tribe. My kin.
It was during this time that FosterStrong first began – not as the organization and resource hub it is today, but as a grassroots community awareness campaign I launched as a young adult. What started as a way to share stories and shed light on the realities of foster care grew as I grew. As I stepped into different lenses -national advocate, foster/kinship/adoptive parent, and child welfare professional – FosterStrong evolved right alongside me, becoming a movement led by people with lived and professional experience.
Along the way, I’ve carried a personal mantra: “If you CAN, you DO.” If you can stand up, you do. If you can speak out, you do. If you can open your heart or your home, you do. That belief has guided every part of my journey – from advocacy, to parenting, to professional work, to building FosterStrong.
When I became a mother, my perspective shifted again. I didn’t just want to survive the legacy my family carried – I wanted to change it. My children became my inspiration to build something new: a legacy rooted not in trauma, but in grit, grace, and gratitude. Grit to face what seemed unmovable. Grace to forgive the past and walk forward without shame. Gratitude for the community and chosen kin who stepped in and reminded me that love is bigger than blood.
FosterStrong is more than an organization – it is chosen kin united by experience and purpose. Together, we are determined to ensure the next generation of children and families doesn’t just inherit the system, but inherits hope.