Michelle T. / “What I needed most was love and emotional connection.”
Michelle knows what she wants for her future.
After spending time in foster care, Michelle is now focused on creating the life she envisions for herself. Today, she is building her career as a social worker while also working toward becoming the kind of mother her son can be proud of. Over the next five years, she hopes to continue growing her family, finish her master’s degree, and achieve the dream of homeownership.
Michelle's journey has also been shaped by the people who have remained in her corner. She credits her child, her siblings, and her grandmother as people who helped her get to where she is today.
When reflecting on what she needed most while aging out of foster care, her answer was simple but powerful: “[What] I needed most was love and emotional connection.”
That need continues to shape how Michelle sees the experiences of young people in foster care today. She believes older youth deserve greater care and attention and hopes to see changes in “the way older children are handled” within the foster care system.
For Michelle, support for foster youth can take many forms, from emotional connection to tangible resources. She encourages the public to “help and donate to them,” while also recognizing the importance of giving young people what they need most: “love and [the] care they need.”
As she continues building her career, raising her son, and working toward her dreams, Michelle is creating a future defined by purpose, connection, and possibility.
Her story is greater than foster care. It is a story of everything she is building beyond it.
Like Michelle, you can use your voice to tell your story and help others understand the foster care experience. Share your story here.
