How many people are fortunate enough that through hard work, commitment, and perserverance are able to fulfill their life dream? I believe that founding NAFFCCA, nurturing it and seeing it grow is my life purpose.

Growing up in foster care is a lonely experience. A child does not know who to trust or who will disappear from their life on any given day. While some adults are caring and nurturing, others are not. Many individuals and programs exploit the young people whose lives are entrusted with. It may be hard for someone who has never experienced foster care to imagine what this is like, or the long-term effects that it has on any one individual.

As someone who grew up in foster care, I know first hand what it is like to be in the system. I entered foster care at the age of three and left at eighteen when I enlisted in the military. I lived in a foster home and group homes; as well as Junior Village, which once housed hundreds of foster children at a time. I know what young people in foster care system are going through. I created NAFFCCA to help make sure that fewer of them are lost along the way and that more of them make it in life.

I believe that our responsibility to the young people we serve is to be honest, to listen to them, to protect them as best as we are able, to give them a sense of belonging, and to give them the skills they will need to be successful in life.

One of our primary goals is to help youth manage the uncertainty and disruption that comes with change, while capitalizing on the benefits, opportunities, and successes that change also provides. For this reason, part of my philosophy is to involve and include all youth in furthering their own personal development and to expose them to a strong family environment, which promotes new ideas and surroundings, activities, self-development, life skills, education, vocational training, and employment.

I am a firm believer that young people, especially those in foster care, need to learn entrepreneurial skills. They can use these skills in whatever they undertake and will always have the option of going into business for themselves. This is especially critical for the teens in foster care who are far behind in their formal schooling. They may have missed too much school while living with their birth families and due to the many placements changes they have experienced in foster care have additional gaps.

Many have experienced so little success in school that they have lost the confidence in their own abilities. These young people may never be successful in school but they can develop the skills to start or run a business.

As we see additional needs, we will develop additional programs and supports for the young people we serve.