Canyon Tee

When I was in foster care, they said I had an emotional imbalance which caused me to be hospitalized. At the end of the hospital stay, I was dropped off at a women’s shelter. The shelter was abusive, and I ultimately ran away because I was unsafe. I had no one to turn to and none of my medications. I ended up in Dallas and had to walk all the way to Fort Worth. During that time, I collapsed and had to go to the hospital. That is when my grandmother found me and took me in. When she called CPS, they said I wasn’t their problem anymore.

That made me realize that the foster care system didn’t really care about us. The more “issues” we have, the more money they make. We are walking piggy banks. It breaks my heart knowing that this happens to many teenagers. I’m sharing this to show what is like for a foster kid to age out of foster care. Just because we are adults, doesn’t mean our life is easier, if anything, it gets harder.

Now I’m more stable and I wouldn’t be here without Unfaulted. Without Unfaulted, I wouldn’t have graduated, I wouldn’t be living on my own, I wouldn’t be talking to people without pushing them away, and I wouldn’t be taking care of myself. I know I did the work but the relationships that I formed through Unfaulted motivated me to accomplish these goals.

One thing I wish people knew is that just because we are adults now doesn’t mean we aren’t youths. We are called young adults for a reason. When we finally age out, we get to be the kids we never got to be in the system. You are a young adult when you are a foster child. You are forced to grow up so fast. A lot of people are more childish when we age out because our inner child finally comes out.