For a child, entering foster care is one of the most frightening and uncertain times. Being torn from everything you know is something no child should experience. When foster care becomes the only option, having people who support and care for you becomes as essential as breathing.
One young man from Key West, despite facing one of the most unbearable life circumstances, is now making his dream of college a reality.
A representative from Wesley House Family Services went a few years ago to do a home visit for the Department of Children and Families for a father and two children in need of services.
The social worker learned RJ and his brother were sleeping on the screened-in front porch of the home. RJ slept on a couple of comforters so his younger brother could sleep on a cot. The temperature was close to 100 degrees. It was clear RJ and his brother needed help, so the worker mentioned the children’s shelter. RJ immediately responded, “I am not going to a shelter. I want to graduate from school. I am not a bad kid, I will graduate!” The determination in his eyes told the worker he wanted to succeed, and did not care what it would take. RJ had come to live in Key West with his father and brother when he was 14 while his mother stayed behind in Haiti. Sadly, when he left Haiti it was the last time he would see his mother. She died two years later when RJ was 16.
RJ ultimately spent some time at the children’s shelter and was quickly moved to a foster home while a team of people at Wesley House worked tirelessly so he could achieve his dream of graduating high school and going to college.
RJ said he’d been afraid he might not “make it” when he aged out of foster care, which is one of the most terrifying times for kids in the system.
RJ starts college at Tallahassee Community College this fall and needed everything to live on his own in a student housing apartment. He had lots of questions before college: Will this be like high school? Is there a bus system to get to class? Will I be able to get a job? What if I need a doctor?
For RJ, the usual excitement of going off to college was overshadowed by his worries of surviving after foster care.
The Wesley House team again sprang into action to ensure that RJ would have all he needed. With help from staff and supportive donors, RJ headed to college with the much-needed household and school supplies.
RJ is one of many youths who age out of foster care and are at much greater risk of homelessness and substance abuse than a typical teen. Those wishing to help children who are preparing to age out of the foster care system or any of the other programs provided by Wesley House Family Services may donate at www.welseyhouse.org, via the agency’s Facebook page by clicking the QR code or by check to Wesley House Family Services, 1304 Truman Ave., Key West, FL 33040.
