NOTE - The youth's names have been changed and images withheld for their privacy and protection because they are still in foster care awaiting permanence. Through their stories, though, their identities and personalities are as vivid as their futures are bright.

My name is Catherine.  I’m 10 years old and in the third grade.  I have wanted braces for sooooo long because they’re cool.  (I think I have an overbite.)  Braces will be good for me because they will straighten my teeth and fix my bite.  I want a nice smile.

If I had my pick of favorite meals, for breakfast I would have eggs and pancakes with syrup, for lunch I’d eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and for dinner, sushi!

There’s quite a few things I like to do in my free time.  I enjoy singing and making up songs, drawing, doing nails and makeup and sometimes I might go outside and play basketball (but I don’t do that a lot).

When I finish school, I’d like to be a singer or a singing teacher or an art teacher.  A singing teacher is a person who gives you tips about how to sing better and teaches you new songs.  An art teacher gives you pointers on how to make your art better.  I’m in music theater and play the violin and I love it. 

In the beginning living with my current foster parents was hard because I was seven years old and had all this stuff on my mind like, would I never see my mom again, how long was this going to last, will I ever go home.  The biggest fear I had was that my mom would die from drugs cuz I knew it was a possibility.  The fact that she died for that reason, I don’t know what to say.

I started getting comfortable living here since the first day.  My foster parents were nice and welcoming and meeting my foster dad was fun.  On the second or third day I was with them, I sang to him and he cried.  Now it’s just like normal.  I was never afraid to ask them anything.  They were never mean, they treated me equal to their son and they were and are so nice.

If I needed help with something, I know I could ask my foster parents.  I know that they’ll help me because since 2019 that’s what they’ve always done for me.

Overall, foster care has made my life better because I interacted with better people (like people who are sober).  How nice everyone was, I don’t know how to describe it, it was amazing.  They were very nice.  They let me talk to them whenever I wanted or needed to.