In the most recent Fostering Perspectives writing contest we gave young people in foster care the following prompt: \u201cWhat is an important lesson your foster parents or social worker have taught you? How did it help you?\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s what they had to say.<\/p>\n\n\n 1st Place – Kymani, age 12<\/strong><\/p>\n One important lesson my foster parents, Harvey and Stephanie Wilson, taught me was to listen and follow directions for my parents. For example, they taught me to always have a heart for homeless people and encouraged me to help people in need when I can. I love my foster parents because they guide me like a guardian angel, and they always stick to my side when I need help.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They always make sure I\u2019m good and always have a smile on my face every day for a new adventure.\u00a0 They love me even through the toughest times, like when I went to a psychiatric hospital, they stayed by my side and never left me. My biological mother never left me either. Even when I\u2019m in trouble they still love me and make sure I succeed in life to become the man I want to become.\u00a0 So, that is why I love them so much because they always tell me what\u2019s right and what\u2019s wrong.\u00a0 Another important lesson they taught me was \u201cNo matter if it\u2019s Foster or Biological, family always comes first\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Kymani received $100 for taking top prize in the writing contest.<\/em><\/p>\n 2nd Place – Stella, age 10<\/strong><\/p>\n Ms. Emma has taught me not to be afraid of my trauma.\u00a0 I was afraid to talk about my past.\u00a0 But, it\u2019s important to talk about your past or it will bug you.\u00a0 I learned my trauma is not my fault, and it does not make me a bad person.\u00a0 Now that I\u2019ve talked about it, I feel better and safer at home and everywhere.\u00a0 I sleep better too!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Stella received $50 for taking second prize.<\/em><\/p>\n 3rd Place – Patience, Age 11<\/strong><\/p>\n I have lived in ten places over two and a half years. Sometimes it is hard to find people to trust. In my last foster family, they lied to me and said everything was alright, but it was not. They did not tell me my dad passed away and I also had to move three days before Christmas to a new foster family. I was very sad because I thought they could be my forever family. Christmas came and I was with my new foster mom. She was not as bad as I thought. She really taught me how to trust again and she\u2019s the best. She took me to camp this summer for the first time. She feels like a real mom to me and I feel at home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Patience received $25 for taking third prize.<\/em><\/p>\n Alianah, Age 11<\/strong><\/p>\n I have lived in foster homes almost my whole life, and it is very hard to not get to see my parents and my other family members. Lavada, Age 10<\/strong><\/p>\n When you get abused or anything, then you need help, and if that means you are going to foster care, then do it! They\u2019re safe, and you\u2019re loved. If you ask me, the life in foster care is pretty good. Misty Franklin-she\u2019s the best. Now you want to know about her, here it is: she\u2019s been a foster parent for 20 years and now she is still doing it. The reason she is doing it is because her momma did it and it made her want to do it. If you ask me, that\u2019s a pretty good idea and we need [foster parents] now days.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Kayden, Age 9<\/strong><\/p>\n My parents taught me not to steal. It helps me not to go to jail. It also helps me to earn trust back.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n All other submission authors recieved $20 for contributing to this issue<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Writing Contest In the most recent Fostering Perspectives writing contest we gave young people in foster care the following prompt: \u201cWhat is an important lesson […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[],"series":[1695],"class_list":["post-2591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-more-additional-content","category-uncategorized","series-may-2024"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/82"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2591"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fseries&post=2591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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My foster parent and social worker have taught me to not be greedy, selfish, and stubborn. Because when I came into foster care, I was very greedy and selfish because I had not had a lot of food when I was with my mother and sometimes my father. Foster care has taught me to share and to not be rude to my foster parents and my foster siblings. I love living with different people. Now that I have grown, I have a wonderful foster family (Misty, Peter, Mary Sue, Maya, Claudia, Shane, and Granny Diane.) So that is how I live in foster care. And my wonderful social worker George Ansah.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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