Cool. so I’m from Queens, New York; I grew up all over NYC in the foster care system. I entered the system when I I was three years old. I lived in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, everywhere except Staten island.…
MoreThanFosters is the storytelling arm of our project. Right now, we are conducting a series of participatory interviews with people who were in foster care. Our goal is to uplift the experiences of young adults who were formerly in foster care, with a focus on experiences of aging-out and life as young adults. We are starting with interviewing members of our collective and will be inviting others to be interviewed throughout 2023.
We hope to use our stories to educate, bring awareness, and mobilize people into action, towards justice for transition age youth. We are looking to grow the next generation of social justice advocates and leaders.
We are interested in understanding the complexity, uniqueness, and totality of our stories -- none of us are one thing, we are multitudes. We have navigated systems that have harmed us. We are resilient and strong; and we need community and are interdependent. By speaking out about our truths, experiences, and expertise we hope to break harmful public narratives about youth who have been in foster care and inspire a movement toward reparative policy, justice, and liberation.
My name means “hope.” Whenever I tell people the meaning of my name it’s always the same line, “Wow, Amal that’s so powerful” or “That’s so beautiful”. I’ve always found that funny because if only they knew how I felt…
I’m a mother. My son is six. In this journey with my son, I have been learning more about who I am and where I came from. Because I was in the foster care system, I can’t really go into…
I spent over half of my life in foster care from age 6 to about 20. When I was first taken away from my mom, I had never been away from her. I was always on her hips. I was…
I identify as a parent, as a student, and as a developing leader. I love to read, cook, dance and learn. Once I’m hooked on something, I just want to learn more about it. I’m not no professional dancer, but…
I’m Justin Mercado and I’m 23. I’m stoic, reserved, I don’t have many words to say. I’m about helping people out, encouraging them. Fixing a broken world. I was in foster care when I was young, and I spent years…
I’m T’Coy and I aged-out of foster care after going back into care when I was 20. Today, I have a great support system who I know that I can rely on when need be. When it’s nice out, I…
My name is Mya Martinez and I grew up on the west side of the Bronx. I’m 19 and I’m from Webster. I bounced from New York to Florida a little bit, because I was in foster care. But, I…
