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OUR STORIES
lafayette region
Parishes: Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary and Vermillion
My name is Jocelyn and I’m 17 years old. My playlist consists of Korn and Metallica. In my free time I like playing Pokémon, watching Anime, reading Manga and listening to music. They are the things I do to practice self-care. I have crooked teeth. I think that it would help me with my speaking because I have a lisp. I just want straight teeth. I’m probably going to work at like the mall or something. I’m thinking at Hot Topic. I don’t know if I want to go to school or anything. I came into care because my mom was mentally ill. She’s schizo-affective bi-polar, some other things like that. My bio dad died when I was like 3. After high school I'm probably going to work at the mall or something. I don't know if I want to go to school or something. My foster care experience overall was probably like okay but my first one was bad because they didn’t know anything about mental health and stuff like that. They were just like really hateful. They would compare their experience, or my old foster mom would compare her experiences and childhood trauma with ours. She was overall super childish and inappropriate. I have ADHD, she acted like I didn’t have it. There just wasn’t an effort to be compassionate or educate themselves about mental health. In my current foster home, they’re patient and the they know about mental health, like taking medication and know about that type of stuff. Foster care has made my life better because I feel like I opened up better (with my current placement), I am learning how to be an adult – like driving practice. If there was one thing I would change about foster care it would be mental health awareness. I feel like there can be more done with how the foster homes are chosen, like educating them about autism, disorders, and trauma and stuff like that. I wish my first foster home were more educated and understanding like my current home.
My name is KH. I’m 11 years old and in the 5 th grade. On my playlist you will find Zydeco music. I like to play Xbox in my free time. I also like playing basketball and football outside with my brother. I want to go to high school then college. I want to be a mechanic. Foster care was kind of horrible and boring cuz you can’t’ go outside on the weekends. If you want to go to your friend’s house, you can’t even go. I wasn’t comfortable where I was. I was used to being with my mother. I used to sit in the room with my brother and draw. The good thing about foster care is that I spent time with my brother. He tells me not to do that and to do this, but he’s helping me to not get in trouble. It feels good to be with him and back with my mother. If I needed help, the one adult I would call is my grandmother. January 17, 2024 – Bonding Day! I wanted braces to close my gap so people would stop judging me. People made fun of me. It doesn’t happen a lot anymore because my mom went to the school. Braces will make my teeth straight and nice. I might have my braces for 24 months. That’s fine. I want my teeth straight, so I’m going to keep them for how long it takes. I felt comfortable with the wait because I needed to give Ms. Leslie enough time to get my braces. I waited ten months, but the time has been flying by. It felt faster. I knew Ms. Leslie would do it because she promised in Brace Class that you would get us some braces. The one thing I didn’t like about getting braces is that they had to keep my mouth dry. Last Thoughts: It hurst when they tighten them. Your mouth gets sore.
My name is Snow and I’m 16 years old. In my free time I like to listen to Lemon Demon, Hamilton Soundtrack. I really like musicals, Marina and the Diamonds. Playing games like Pokémon, Watching Anime, Reading Manga and Classic Literature (1984, The Great Gatsby, Animal Farm). I think that I need braces – not desperately but it would help. My teeth are crooked and don’t align and it kind of bothers me, it’s a little uncomfortable. I think that braces will improve my speech. I have to go to speech therapy and I think that if I got braces it would help fix my speech. I came into foster care because my mother was physically abusive and yelling at us (sister). One day in Oklahoma she attacked me and then we moved to Louisiana. Almost immediately after getting to Louisiana, we were placed into foster care, maybe 3 days after. My father (bio) is dead. He died whenever I was 2. My foster care experience has been okay. Well, it was like the fact that well it was good for a while because we weren’t in like a bad situation anymore. The household was cold. When we got home no one would really be there so we would wait around. So when they did come back they really wouldn’t say anything to us. I’m very social and I talk a lot so… My first placement was okay but this one is good. The parents that we’re with now are always willing to talk. If I started a conversation they’re going to listen and say something back or tell me that it’s not the time. You know, they communicate. They’re reasonable. You know if you do something wrong, they’ll give a punishment that’s reasonable and not down talk you. If I could change one thing about foster care, not from personal experience but from the experiences of others, I wish that there were more ways for children to get without getting disbelieved. Because I’m always hearing stories about how these kids they have scars on them and stuff like that and no is listening to them. I guess I wish that people would believe them more and more and that people would listen. What I like to do if I am in a like a stressful situation is think I guess – not about the situation- but things that’ll make me happy. Like the music in Hamilton. When I was younger, I would try to think up music videos in my head and it works very well with Hamilton.
My name is DH and I’m 14 years old and in the 8 th grade. My playlist includes Cane Brown, Luke Bryan and lots of country music. In my free time I like to play video games and play sports and be outside. To relax, sometimes I read and sometimes I lay down and take a nap. After high school I want to be a welder and later on in life I want to go to university to get my degree to be a mechanic. I was in foster care for 1.5 to 2 years. It helped me learn a lot but it wasn’t really good because I didn’t get to be with my family. I learned how to take care of myself and a lot of things with my anger like I can’t be angry at everything. The counselors and DCFS workers helped me learn that. I was angry because I wanted to be with my family, and they always told me that they were going to separate me from my brother because they thought it wasn’t good for us to be together sometimes when we would fuss and fight. But we learned to control it so we could stay together. I learned from my mistakes to be a kid and not be an adult. I was so used to being with my brother and trying to take care of him that my foster parent would get mad and tell me to be a kid. It made me feel like it took a lot off my back. Some things I didn’t like about foster care is that they would not give us privileges even when we were good like going outside during the week when we didn’t have school. They left us alone a lot, too. I’ve lived in three placements. The first one I loved. They treated us like we were their own kids. We had to leave because they were not certified foster parents. The last one was pretty cool. It had some ups and downs. They were always working and stuff. If I could change one thing, they should give the kids more attention and help them to know and understand that they are not trying to harm them and they actually want them to be back with their parents. I came into care because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. If I needed help, I would ask my grandma. She would try her best to help me. Since I have been reunited with my mom It feels good to be home. I have more freedom and can play more sports. I get to meet my new family members, the cousins that are newborns. January 17, 2024 – Bonding Day You finished the Oral Health/Life Skills Training Series in March 2023, how did it feel to wait all this time to finally get your braces? Waiting for braces wasn’t bad. I have good patience. The time helped me learn how to take care of my braces. I watched tons of videos on how it would feel, the pain, how to relieve the pain and things like that, what kinds of foods to eat and stuff like that. I don’t believe that you [Ms. Lacy] would go all around the world to help kids and then not do it. Plus you said the business was small so I knew it would take time to get it going. I knew it wasn’t gonna happen in a week. Last thoughts about braces: I just want to see the after results!
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Prairieville, LA 70769
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Equipping foster youth to embrace their future.