Finding Forever Families for Youth in LA County

Do you remember the house you grew up in? Eunice doesn't. She lived in 27 foster homes before she was 12 years old.  "All the foster homes felt exactly the same," she said. "The thing about living in foster care is that you never know when someone will give up on you but you know they will, and so you don't trust anyone." 

By the time Eunice was ten she was considered unadoptable because she'd been in so many homes. But that changed when she got into the Kidsave Weekend Miracles program and met Sari. “Meeting Sari changed everything for me. Kidsave matched us for hosting, and we spent every weekend together. She called all the time, talked to my teachers, she cared about me – just me!  For the first time in my life, I felt special.

“I remember my first visit to her house. It felt like a home. My room, my bed, my own bathroom. We ate out and went to see “Wicked” -- my first time to the theatre.  Sari showed me a whole new world -- one I’d never knew existed.” By spring she was no longer “Sari”. She was Mom. “I remember feeling safe, and that I could trust her.

“Because I had moved so many times, I was way behind in school, but between my mom, the tutor and great teachers I moved up to honors classes in two years. It helped knowing that my mom believed I could do it -- and that she promised me a dog if I made the honor roll.” 

Eunice plans to study criminology, become a lawyer and work with foster kids to make sure they have someone in their life they can trust, someone who is there for them no matter what. She wants to do what Kidsave and her mom have done for her -- give foster kids the chance for a good future.

Links:

• Read about Kidsave's programs
• Explore "hosting"
• Weekend Miracles events in Los Angeles