DCFYI

Dear DCFYI Family,

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all you for your support, and everything you have done and given me during my two years and five months serving as the Operations Coordinator with DCFYI. The conversations, support, passion, and dedication you have and shown for improving the lives of youth in care has been invaluable to me. I have learned so much while working alongside all of you, Susan, and every DCFYI teen. I hope and promise to remain a part of Family & Youth Initiative in another capacity as it continues to grow.

As a mentor for the last few years to two foster youth now in their 20’s, I have often felt like I was not able to spend enough time with them because of my work or personal obligations. I wondered if I did enough and frequently wished I could spend more time with them. I care about them and enjoy spending time with them, and I want to be a positive influence and enduring part of their lives.

On the surface, the first five years of my life looked wonderful as I had the loving support of my parents and siblings. However, my mother’s schizophrenia affected my father, a Vietnam War veteran, who resorted to alcohol to handle the stress of caring for a mentally ill spouse. I was removed from my family and set adrift from foster home to foster home for eight years. I felt alone and confused, continually moving without a stable environment with no permanent family and no sense of security.