Before I landed my first "real" job, I held a variety of summer jobs and had many years of babysitting as a teen. I don't remember thinking too much about the basic skills I was gaining or how those experiences might help me in future employment. (except for money management; I still remember how carefully I tracked every penny earned from every babysitting job)
When thinking about the perceptions of foster care, a number of descriptors and experiences come to mind, but one in particular I wasn’t prepared for: loneliness.
After I graduated from college, I spent a lot of time looking for a job before I decided to apply to AmeriCorps. I've always been interested in working with my community and especially with children, so I was excited when I happened upon this position at DCFYI. While I had no experience with foster care and little knowledge of adoption, I was excited to have the chance to learn more about it. Serving as the outreach and communications VISTA with DCFYI for the last year has been not only rewarding and amazing but an enlightening experience.
