FOSTER YOUTH ALUMNI ADVOCATES AND ACTIVISTS - APRIL 2016

Kimmie: Being a part of the foster youth alumni has changed my life completely. I was really embarrassed about being a foster youth, but then David invited me to become an advocate, and because of that I grew up a lot and I learned how to prepare myself professionally and present myself professionally. 

But I but, I think most of all it showed me the passion that I have for Foster youth and I get to see these people who are successful and have overcome the odds. I think the best part is the friendships like they're sad and just getting to be a professional and get to make a difference with people that I've gone through similar things that you've gone through, but your friendship isn't based on that it's based off where you're going in the future. So, I think that's really powerful.  

David: We started out as colleagues, like you said. Now our base is friendship, and we just get to advocate for the voiceless together.  

Theron: Every chance you get to be an activist, you get to spread the word of what you're trying to do, and what you're trying to change, and how you want to see something be fixed.  So, I let them know that I do things with OKIL.  I do things with Teen Conference. 

Rebeca: That's a piece of me and my identity so, I'm not giving you that power. I'm going to keep it, and share it with people that care.  Like this room of people, it's a safe environment. I would share if I signed up to do a panel.  I would share at Teen Conference. I work with college students right now who are former foster youth with the ETV scholarship, and their face lights up when they see that they could do something someday.  

Kimmie: Probably the biggest one for me is the thought that your too broken--foster kids are too broken.  They're too emotionally unstable to be a good friend, be a good employee, be a good spouse.  But as I'm growing up, I'm learning more about myself. I'm learning more about the world. I'm learning that instead of a statistic, like none of us are statistics. We are people who have a future. 

We are people who may have had negative things in the past, but because of that we grown up to be stronger people.  So, instead of looking at foster youth as people who are broken, looking at them as people who have overcome great odds and are making a difference in the world. 

David: That is what we are looking towards--is being accountable for them, and helping them to break the stereotypes by breaking our own.  

Rebeca: I have a sense of pride and then also the fear because you put yourself on a pedestal because you're going to beat the odds that you have to be scared to be knocked down way farther than you would if you just kind of played at the bottom.  

David: The fact that we were able to go through all that stuff is quite mind-boggling to me. I think if all of us were able to take that momentum into maybe our jobs, or personal life,  or whatever, you know, everything is pretty much easy from there.  

Kimmie: It's molded me to be a person that cares about others on a deeper level. My view of success because of the foster system is helping others up who are down. We do have something to prove. 

Theron: We do have to show that we are here because we have more barriers to break down than someone who has help. So, we do, I feel like most foster kids who are in professional level work hard, and they work hard for a reason.  

Kimmie: We really appreciate them. We really appreciate all that they've done and the sacrifices that they make. And so, I think the biggest thing is that we did find people who helped us in our case systems, or we found that adult who reached out to us.  I would just encourage you if you are discouraged, you are making a difference. 

Rebeca: I feel like the most important people in my life, like at college graduation, and high school graduation, and at my wedding have been my former caseworker and my former ETV specialist, and just those people that did more than just treat me like a case. To this day, they are still my biggest support.  So, I feel like--just know you do make headroom with us stubborn teenagers.