• Adjusting to My Adoptive Family

  by George Romero

  When I was first adopted out of foster care at age 6, everyone in my new family was sweet to me. It seemed like there was a lot of love. In addition to my two adoptive parents, I had six new siblings.

• Better Apart 

  by J.R.

  My mom and I fought all my life. Sometimes, she insulted me and used foul language, saying things like, “You’re never going to be sh-t,” or “I should’ve never had you.” On occasion, she hit me. Nothing I did seemed good enough for her, even when I got A’s in school.

• Finding a Supportive Home

  by M.T.

  I was 13 and it was almost summer in Florida. It was a sunny day and my best friend and I were walking to my house after school. When I got home, the atmosphere suddenly shifted from bright and lively to dark and gloomy. 

• Making Family Where You Find It

  by Leroy Chen

  When Covid shut down New York City in March 2020, I lost my home. I was part of the FCSI/Dorm Project, a program that lets college students in care stay in dorms year-round. Most of us suddenly left the dorms, and I moved in with a new foster family.

• How I Beat My Depression

  by S.O.T.B.

  At the end of 4th grade, my parents divorced. My dad moved into his mother’s house temporarily. My mom, my older sister, and I moved in with her boyfriend and his family, which included his 8- and 6-year-old sons, his mother, his two male cousins, and his 22-year-old brother.

• Ready to Make Him Pay

  by L.F.

  Names have been changed. Even at 8, I knew what was going on wasn’t right. But only later did I understand that I was a victim of sexual abuse by my stepfather. And now, at 17, I want him in prison.