What is your advice for a child just starting out in foster care now?
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17 Responses to “To anyone who is living in or has lived in foster care,”
I would suggest to those who are just entering foster care to keep a tight hold on your dreams. I know that when I was first put in a shelter home I was angry, terrified and I felt like no one cared about me and I built a lot of walls. I found out much later that by building walls to keep everybody out - I built them so high and so thick I lost myself and I couldn’t reach my own goals. I remained that way until I let my last foster mom really know me. She was instrumental in helping graduate high school with my class. It’s important for you to remember your dreams and ambitions and pursue them, it will give you a sense of purpose and vision and with that you can truly get through anything!! It takes time to build trust and you may not feel like opening up to a complete stranger right away but if you try and feel you can’t connect with your caseworker or foster parents find a mentor, or a teacher who inspires you, someone who you can trust who will help you achieve your vision…KEEP DREAMING, KEEP REACHING.
I want children and teens in foster care to know… You are not alone! There are many of us who have been in foster care before… we know it can be tough at times but we are rooting for you! We want you to have an awesome life where you are treated with respect! Treat yourself with respect!
I remember I used to determine whether or not I was good enough by how people treated me… Now I know that that was fake! I would want children and teens just starting out in foster care to refuse to buy into that… to refuse to buy into stigmas… How someone treats you does not determine your worth or value…what matters is how you treat yourself!
Now I want to comment about something else…thankfully most foster parents are great, but NOT ALL of them. Foster parents come from society and not everyone in society is what they seem.
For children and teens in foster care: If, where you are living is safe and good… enjoy it, savor it, have fun with it!
If, where you are living is not working however, if it is too hurtful, too mean, abusive (verbally, emotionally, or in any other way) -then speak up and tell someone, tell your caseworker, or tell a teacher, tell a neighbor… If the first person you tell doesn’t listen, tell someone else, keep telling until you are heard!
Also, whatever is happening - it will pass! It won’t last forever. Someday you will be an adult. You have a future ahead of you with so many fun and inspiring possibilities! So keep your chin up! Keep remembering that what is happening now will pass! It WILL pass! Think about your future! Think about your dreams! Have faith in your dreams!
You are loved and you do matter! You might doubt this is true but I promise it is! You are loved and you do matter!
Also, every chance you get… be kind to yourself! Have fun, laugh, be silly, play! Or if your situation is such that you do not have a chance to do that right this second… daydream about laughing, playing, and having fun! Daydreams can be fun too! Treat yourself great!
Lastly, I want children and teens in foster care to know: whatever mistakes you have made in the past, it doesn’t define your future…it doesn’t even have to define who you are today. Everyday is a new day! We can just do our best to clean up our mistakes and then move on. I’ve made plenty of mistakes in the past but the cool thing is I get to recreate who I am choosing to be every single day. We need to treat ourselves with respect and give ourself more chances…we get to choose the choices we make with each new day!
I would have to say is remember who you are and what you stand for. If you believe that something is not right say it, and stick to it. Oh yeah and PLEASE Choose to be happy!!
1. Learn from the “good and bad”- every situation you encounter, every home or family that you have the chance to experience will have different strengths and weaknesses. You can make the most of your time in foster care if you learn from the positives of the people you live with and try to incorporate the good things they teach into your life. This is also true for observing the things in each family and situation that are unhealthy or undesirable. You can make your time in foster care a great learning experience and help you better understand the type of family you may want to create someday.
2. Don’t confuse your surroundings with who you are- sometimes it may be difficult to separate the stigma of being a “foster kid” with your own identity as a person with amazing potential. Regardless of where you come from, rich, poor, broken family, or whole, your circumstances don’t determine your worth. Sometimes foster brothers of mine would take part in activities like drugs, sex, etc., and it would have been easy to go along with them and lose myself in their influence. You don’t have to follow or listen to the stigma of foster care.
3. Find ways to serve others- One of the best ways I found to overcome my challenges in foster care and after foster care was to focus on how I could help others- it helped me to forget myself and be more grateful for the good things I did have in my life.
4. Build bridges- with all the challenges that you may face either before or in foster care you could close off and build up walls to block other people out- instead, I would encourage you to find people you can trust and learn how to develop meaningful and valuable relationships- where you both give and take in the relationship- as this skill is one that will benefit you for the rest of your life.
5. Remember- regardless of your situation, in the end you are the one that chooses whether you succeed or fail.
There are two ways to live your life: stressed out and telling ourselves negative things, or choosing happiness and getting on with your life! The beauty of it is: It’s up to you. You get to pick how it will be.
I never dreamed I’d end up in foster care, but now that I look back on it, I realize that I wouldn’t be who I am today without the experience of having been a foster youth. I am so grateful to my foster family and for having had that experience.
My advice? Choose to be the very best you can be; to experience life to its fullest; to reach out to those around you and create great relationships; to not give up on the pursuit of your goals; to realize that you are LOVABLE and you are CAPABLE. Be positive, be hopeful, be bold.
Entering Foster Care is such a tramatic experience, the one thing that I didn’t beleive in at first that I really beleive in now, Open up to your case worker if you can at all, use them as your voice in every situation, that’s what they’re for! They may be a stranger, but that stranger is the one who is going to save you if anything goes wrong, and as that child gets older, they are going to HAVE to meet a lot of strangers to make it in this world, and those are the strangers that are going to care less.
Use your Case Worker to your benefit, show them that your worth fighting for immediately. When my world turned into lie after lie, I needed to choose one person in the world to be honest with, make that someone your case worker.
The first thing to realize is that entering foster care is not reality. It is only an experience and not what defines you as a human being. You are the only one who can choose what kind of experience you will have while in foster care as well as the rest of your life. It is an opportunity to look within yourself and decide how you want to BE in this life. Be honest with yourself and it will only bring peace and freedom from whatever experience you are having. Remember you are always loved by someone even if it is just yourself and that matters the most!
Don’t be afraid to be yourself, share what matters to you. Your future is something you get to have say in. Never be afraid to share what is on your mind. As a former foster child, I know sometimes there can be a stigma attached to being a foster child. You are important no matter what that stigma says and you get to pave your future, and by doing so, you can pave the future of those following in your footsteps.
You get to decide to shine at any moment. Remember Martin Luther King, Ghandi, etc. They had no agreement to shine and share their dreams. Just remember you don’t need any agreement from anyone to shine and be great. You are great.
I was a teenager in foster care and I want to say, It’s okay to have good days and bad days and days that are in between. It’s okay to ask for help. It’s okay to struggle. It’s okay to learn as we go along.
It is a rare and extraordinary individual that will open their life to another. Those in foster care do that for one another every day. You give yourself to another in a way that is typically reserved only for those with a blood relationship. Whatever the circumstances that brought you here, know that you have an astounding future ahead of you. You may have had a hard, even horrific life up to now, but this is a new beginning. A new chance for you to create a future for yourself that will lead you to a life that is unpredictable, even unfathomable right now.
There may be regrets, concern, anger and even fear from what you’ve had to deal with in your life up to now. None of that matters. It’s all in the past. And while the past is a great teacher, it is a hard task master. Don’t allow the fear and the anger to choose for you what you will do with your life. You are so much greater than you can possibly know. Don’t let the circumstances you have found yourself in or the circumstances you find yourself in now dictate who or even how you will be in life. Live life fully. Suck the marrow from its bones. It’s human to have good days and bad days; happy days and sad days. It’s part of being human. It’s part of the dance of life, and you have the power within you to deal with anything that comes your way.
Whether your a foster child or a foster parent, be patient and loving with one other. It’s new for both of you. You’re building something that will last a lifetime and the effort you put in now will return a thousand fold.
One of my favorite quotes, which is often incorrectly attributed to Nelson Mandela says it beautifully:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
You really are on the start of something new. I know there is fear and concern and excitement and hope. Live in the excitement and the hope. Live into a future that you choose; not into a past you didn’t. There are many of us who have been there, been through and have found ourselves stronger, happier and living a life we now love. You’re not alone.
I would love for any child in or out of fostercare to know how strong you are. I would love for you to know how much power you have. No one can take that from you. You will have to give a person permission to make you feel down, lonely, not worth it or scared. I would love for you to know that there is so many nice people out there who will help you accomplish any dream you have. Hold your head up high and never be the one who people look down on, be the person everyone look up too. Know that someone is always cheering for you always. This is something I learned as I grew up. I had to learn this concept the hard way, but guess what? I know and I live it.
Wow,
I just want to say to Larry…that quote is amazing, I have never heard of it before. Thank you for putting it on the site, I think it’s beautiful in so many ways!!!
And to Tre’ La Trill Loveridge, I love how you said “You will have to give a person permission to make you feel down, lonely, not worth it, or scared.” That is something that I took very personal!! That is such a true thing to say, your words I will always remember!!!
I want to say to everyone who has dropped a line here….we should spread the word to all those we know that are in or was in care to come to the site, I get so much isnpiration from this site!!!
All of your words are amazing!!!
My first foster home was awful. I have a little brother and I could not protect him from the beatings and anger. He was still waring diapers when we sent into foster care and the foster parents decided that he did not need pampers anymore because he was a big boy. . .
Well, I don’t have to tel you that he went to the bathroom on himself and every time he did the foster mother would toss him in the shower and beat him. I always stood in the hallway and died a little every time he screamed. I was helpless and could not protect him.
Thank god my brother and I were moved to a loving home where we were taken care off. That foster home was the first home I had every been to where I didn’t feel scared.
With that said, I learned something that has stayed with me, and that is . . . survival is instinct, any animal can do that. But life, life is a creation and I am the creator every day. to all the children currently or has been in foster care. We can all step beyond survival and into creation.
I would like any child who is in foster care or who has been in foster care to know that their is lots of resorces and people out their to help you get through the difficult times and teach you the skills that you need to survive and that all youth are strong and can accomplish anyything if you work hard and put your mind to it.. Their is people out their that love and care for each and every one of you.. just believe!!
I was a foster child and had a lot of ups and downs and know I am doing good it takes strength and courage to believe in yourself and others but you can do it.. I have faith in all of you..
I think today I think mostly about foster parents and the power they have over all children’s lives. As a former foster child and now as a parent myself to three children I can imagine how difficult it is to have us [foster children] in you and your families lives. You did not nurture us and carry us in your womb, you did not spend any time cultivating or modifying our habits, hugging us when we were sad and gaining our trust. We were thrown into your world just like you into ours and now we must get along and respect each other! In a way we are set up to fail from the beginning!
So I offer you this after having grown up in more than 30 cities by the time I was 16 and with more family dynamics than I would know where to start: take a lot of deep breaths - every day! Don’t discount love as it presents miracles in ways that you can’t imagine but don’t think it is the answer either. More love to us doesn’t mean you are going to stick around, more love doesn’t mean that we are necessarily welcome in your home and more love does not guarantee us a successful place in your world. We have been tossed around so many times we cannot often catch our breaths. We have been shown so many times that there are more important people and things than us, and we have been let down more times already than you may experience in a lifetime.
Your patience will be exercised more than you like. Your love will be challenged often. And, you will question just what the heck you’ve done more than you might want to admit, but, please don’t give up on us. We do love you back but don’t dare to say. We do care but do everything in our power to show you we don’t and we definitely will challenge you.
One day it will be inevitable that we won’t be together and you will wonder what happened to us and did you make a difference. Yes you did make a difference - one way or another, you did. We listened to you and your words, good or bad, even if our back was turned to you most of the time. What happened to us? We grew up. We moved on. We persevered because that’s what we do. We remember the past too often but hopefully try to remember the people that came into our lives who took the challenge to make a difference.
The one thing we never forget - every door we walk into that says they are family. You. We never forget you and the influence you had in our lives.
On behalf of the lives you’ve benefited that you will never know and on behalf of the children who you’ve taken into your homes that you will never hear from - thank you!
your not alone. someone’s always there to help. speak out to be heard. If you don’t feel you caseworker is of any help, then go up the chain of command (her boss or her bosses boss)
March 27th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
I would suggest to those who are just entering foster care to keep a tight hold on your dreams. I know that when I was first put in a shelter home I was angry, terrified and I felt like no one cared about me and I built a lot of walls. I found out much later that by building walls to keep everybody out - I built them so high and so thick I lost myself and I couldn’t reach my own goals. I remained that way until I let my last foster mom really know me. She was instrumental in helping graduate high school with my class. It’s important for you to remember your dreams and ambitions and pursue them, it will give you a sense of purpose and vision and with that you can truly get through anything!! It takes time to build trust and you may not feel like opening up to a complete stranger right away but if you try and feel you can’t connect with your caseworker or foster parents find a mentor, or a teacher who inspires you, someone who you can trust who will help you achieve your vision…KEEP DREAMING, KEEP REACHING.
March 31st, 2008 at 7:59 pm
I want children and teens in foster care to know… You are not alone! There are many of us who have been in foster care before… we know it can be tough at times but we are rooting for you! We want you to have an awesome life where you are treated with respect! Treat yourself with respect!
I remember I used to determine whether or not I was good enough by how people treated me… Now I know that that was fake! I would want children and teens just starting out in foster care to refuse to buy into that… to refuse to buy into stigmas… How someone treats you does not determine your worth or value…what matters is how you treat yourself!
Now I want to comment about something else…thankfully most foster parents are great, but NOT ALL of them. Foster parents come from society and not everyone in society is what they seem.
For children and teens in foster care: If, where you are living is safe and good… enjoy it, savor it, have fun with it!
If, where you are living is not working however, if it is too hurtful, too mean, abusive (verbally, emotionally, or in any other way) -then speak up and tell someone, tell your caseworker, or tell a teacher, tell a neighbor… If the first person you tell doesn’t listen, tell someone else, keep telling until you are heard!
Also, whatever is happening - it will pass! It won’t last forever. Someday you will be an adult. You have a future ahead of you with so many fun and inspiring possibilities! So keep your chin up! Keep remembering that what is happening now will pass! It WILL pass! Think about your future! Think about your dreams! Have faith in your dreams!
You are loved and you do matter! You might doubt this is true but I promise it is! You are loved and you do matter!
Also, every chance you get… be kind to yourself! Have fun, laugh, be silly, play! Or if your situation is such that you do not have a chance to do that right this second… daydream about laughing, playing, and having fun! Daydreams can be fun too! Treat yourself great!
Lastly, I want children and teens in foster care to know: whatever mistakes you have made in the past, it doesn’t define your future…it doesn’t even have to define who you are today. Everyday is a new day! We can just do our best to clean up our mistakes and then move on. I’ve made plenty of mistakes in the past but the cool thing is I get to recreate who I am choosing to be every single day. We need to treat ourselves with respect and give ourself more chances…we get to choose the choices we make with each new day!
March 31st, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Oh… and one more thing… what Sarah says!: Let someone in…find someone you can trust…let people know you!
April 1st, 2008 at 12:16 am
I would have to say is remember who you are and what you stand for. If you believe that something is not right say it, and stick to it. Oh yeah and PLEASE Choose to be happy!!
April 3rd, 2008 at 12:42 am
A couple of things come to mind:
1. Learn from the “good and bad”- every situation you encounter, every home or family that you have the chance to experience will have different strengths and weaknesses. You can make the most of your time in foster care if you learn from the positives of the people you live with and try to incorporate the good things they teach into your life. This is also true for observing the things in each family and situation that are unhealthy or undesirable. You can make your time in foster care a great learning experience and help you better understand the type of family you may want to create someday.
2. Don’t confuse your surroundings with who you are- sometimes it may be difficult to separate the stigma of being a “foster kid” with your own identity as a person with amazing potential. Regardless of where you come from, rich, poor, broken family, or whole, your circumstances don’t determine your worth. Sometimes foster brothers of mine would take part in activities like drugs, sex, etc., and it would have been easy to go along with them and lose myself in their influence. You don’t have to follow or listen to the stigma of foster care.
3. Find ways to serve others- One of the best ways I found to overcome my challenges in foster care and after foster care was to focus on how I could help others- it helped me to forget myself and be more grateful for the good things I did have in my life.
4. Build bridges- with all the challenges that you may face either before or in foster care you could close off and build up walls to block other people out- instead, I would encourage you to find people you can trust and learn how to develop meaningful and valuable relationships- where you both give and take in the relationship- as this skill is one that will benefit you for the rest of your life.
5. Remember- regardless of your situation, in the end you are the one that chooses whether you succeed or fail.
April 3rd, 2008 at 1:41 am
There are two ways to live your life: stressed out and telling ourselves negative things, or choosing happiness and getting on with your life! The beauty of it is: It’s up to you. You get to pick how it will be.
I never dreamed I’d end up in foster care, but now that I look back on it, I realize that I wouldn’t be who I am today without the experience of having been a foster youth. I am so grateful to my foster family and for having had that experience.
My advice? Choose to be the very best you can be; to experience life to its fullest; to reach out to those around you and create great relationships; to not give up on the pursuit of your goals; to realize that you are LOVABLE and you are CAPABLE. Be positive, be hopeful, be bold.
April 4th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Entering Foster Care is such a tramatic experience, the one thing that I didn’t beleive in at first that I really beleive in now, Open up to your case worker if you can at all, use them as your voice in every situation, that’s what they’re for! They may be a stranger, but that stranger is the one who is going to save you if anything goes wrong, and as that child gets older, they are going to HAVE to meet a lot of strangers to make it in this world, and those are the strangers that are going to care less.
Use your Case Worker to your benefit, show them that your worth fighting for immediately. When my world turned into lie after lie, I needed to choose one person in the world to be honest with, make that someone your case worker.
April 4th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
The first thing to realize is that entering foster care is not reality. It is only an experience and not what defines you as a human being. You are the only one who can choose what kind of experience you will have while in foster care as well as the rest of your life. It is an opportunity to look within yourself and decide how you want to BE in this life. Be honest with yourself and it will only bring peace and freedom from whatever experience you are having. Remember you are always loved by someone even if it is just yourself and that matters the most!
April 10th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
To everyone currently living in foster care.
Don’t be afraid to be yourself, share what matters to you. Your future is something you get to have say in. Never be afraid to share what is on your mind. As a former foster child, I know sometimes there can be a stigma attached to being a foster child. You are important no matter what that stigma says and you get to pave your future, and by doing so, you can pave the future of those following in your footsteps.
You get to decide to shine at any moment. Remember Martin Luther King, Ghandi, etc. They had no agreement to shine and share their dreams. Just remember you don’t need any agreement from anyone to shine and be great. You are great.
April 11th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
I was a teenager in foster care and I want to say, It’s okay to have good days and bad days and days that are in between. It’s okay to ask for help. It’s okay to struggle. It’s okay to learn as we go along.
April 24th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
It is a rare and extraordinary individual that will open their life to another. Those in foster care do that for one another every day. You give yourself to another in a way that is typically reserved only for those with a blood relationship. Whatever the circumstances that brought you here, know that you have an astounding future ahead of you. You may have had a hard, even horrific life up to now, but this is a new beginning. A new chance for you to create a future for yourself that will lead you to a life that is unpredictable, even unfathomable right now.
There may be regrets, concern, anger and even fear from what you’ve had to deal with in your life up to now. None of that matters. It’s all in the past. And while the past is a great teacher, it is a hard task master. Don’t allow the fear and the anger to choose for you what you will do with your life. You are so much greater than you can possibly know. Don’t let the circumstances you have found yourself in or the circumstances you find yourself in now dictate who or even how you will be in life. Live life fully. Suck the marrow from its bones. It’s human to have good days and bad days; happy days and sad days. It’s part of being human. It’s part of the dance of life, and you have the power within you to deal with anything that comes your way.
Whether your a foster child or a foster parent, be patient and loving with one other. It’s new for both of you. You’re building something that will last a lifetime and the effort you put in now will return a thousand fold.
One of my favorite quotes, which is often incorrectly attributed to Nelson Mandela says it beautifully:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
You really are on the start of something new. I know there is fear and concern and excitement and hope. Live in the excitement and the hope. Live into a future that you choose; not into a past you didn’t. There are many of us who have been there, been through and have found ourselves stronger, happier and living a life we now love. You’re not alone.
April 27th, 2008 at 1:25 am
I would love for any child in or out of fostercare to know how strong you are. I would love for you to know how much power you have. No one can take that from you. You will have to give a person permission to make you feel down, lonely, not worth it or scared. I would love for you to know that there is so many nice people out there who will help you accomplish any dream you have. Hold your head up high and never be the one who people look down on, be the person everyone look up too. Know that someone is always cheering for you always. This is something I learned as I grew up. I had to learn this concept the hard way, but guess what? I know and I live it.
Remember what I say, and take care of you.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Wow,
I just want to say to Larry…that quote is amazing, I have never heard of it before. Thank you for putting it on the site, I think it’s beautiful in so many ways!!!
And to Tre’ La Trill Loveridge, I love how you said “You will have to give a person permission to make you feel down, lonely, not worth it, or scared.” That is something that I took very personal!! That is such a true thing to say, your words I will always remember!!!
I want to say to everyone who has dropped a line here….we should spread the word to all those we know that are in or was in care to come to the site, I get so much isnpiration from this site!!!
All of your words are amazing!!!
June 4th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
My first foster home was awful. I have a little brother and I could not protect him from the beatings and anger. He was still waring diapers when we sent into foster care and the foster parents decided that he did not need pampers anymore because he was a big boy. . .
Well, I don’t have to tel you that he went to the bathroom on himself and every time he did the foster mother would toss him in the shower and beat him. I always stood in the hallway and died a little every time he screamed. I was helpless and could not protect him.
Thank god my brother and I were moved to a loving home where we were taken care off. That foster home was the first home I had every been to where I didn’t feel scared.
With that said, I learned something that has stayed with me, and that is . . . survival is instinct, any animal can do that. But life, life is a creation and I am the creator every day. to all the children currently or has been in foster care. We can all step beyond survival and into creation.
June 5th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
I would like any child who is in foster care or who has been in foster care to know that their is lots of resorces and people out their to help you get through the difficult times and teach you the skills that you need to survive and that all youth are strong and can accomplish anyything if you work hard and put your mind to it.. Their is people out their that love and care for each and every one of you.. just believe!!
I was a foster child and had a lot of ups and downs and know I am doing good it takes strength and courage to believe in yourself and others but you can do it.. I have faith in all of you..
June 6th, 2008 at 1:46 am
I think today I think mostly about foster parents and the power they have over all children’s lives. As a former foster child and now as a parent myself to three children I can imagine how difficult it is to have us [foster children] in you and your families lives. You did not nurture us and carry us in your womb, you did not spend any time cultivating or modifying our habits, hugging us when we were sad and gaining our trust. We were thrown into your world just like you into ours and now we must get along and respect each other! In a way we are set up to fail from the beginning!
So I offer you this after having grown up in more than 30 cities by the time I was 16 and with more family dynamics than I would know where to start: take a lot of deep breaths - every day! Don’t discount love as it presents miracles in ways that you can’t imagine but don’t think it is the answer either. More love to us doesn’t mean you are going to stick around, more love doesn’t mean that we are necessarily welcome in your home and more love does not guarantee us a successful place in your world. We have been tossed around so many times we cannot often catch our breaths. We have been shown so many times that there are more important people and things than us, and we have been let down more times already than you may experience in a lifetime.
Your patience will be exercised more than you like. Your love will be challenged often. And, you will question just what the heck you’ve done more than you might want to admit, but, please don’t give up on us. We do love you back but don’t dare to say. We do care but do everything in our power to show you we don’t and we definitely will challenge you.
One day it will be inevitable that we won’t be together and you will wonder what happened to us and did you make a difference. Yes you did make a difference - one way or another, you did. We listened to you and your words, good or bad, even if our back was turned to you most of the time. What happened to us? We grew up. We moved on. We persevered because that’s what we do. We remember the past too often but hopefully try to remember the people that came into our lives who took the challenge to make a difference.
The one thing we never forget - every door we walk into that says they are family. You. We never forget you and the influence you had in our lives.
On behalf of the lives you’ve benefited that you will never know and on behalf of the children who you’ve taken into your homes that you will never hear from - thank you!
June 24th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
your not alone. someone’s always there to help. speak out to be heard. If you don’t feel you caseworker is of any help, then go up the chain of command (her boss or her bosses boss)