<[link removed]>Friend,

May is National Foster Care Month. As a former foster youth, I’d like to take a moment to tell you my story.

This is a difficult story to share – and it’s long – but it’s important. Because the abuse I suffered and the struggles my family faced were all avoidable.

Some of the content may be triggering for survivors of abuse and sexual violence. If you need to skip to the end of this email, I’m going to talk about how Jill’s policies will reduce the number of children in crisis by addressing the root cause of inequality.

I was born into a highly unstable household. My mother was on disability for severe mental illness. My father was a raging alcoholic and an abuser. When we managed to escape my father, it was not the end of the abuse – just the start of a horrible new chapter.

My early childhood was defined by the massive gaps in our social safety net. If not for the kindness of strangers, local food banks, and mom’s monthly Social Security check, I don’t know how we would have survived.

But mom also had a string of abusive boyfriends. So, I started looking for creative ways to stay out of the home by taking odd jobs around our apartment complex – cleaning up trash, walking dogs for seniors, that sort of thing.

Left to roam without supervision, I was targeted by an employee of the apartment complex who repeatedly sexually abused me. After some time, the abuser offered to pay my mother for custody of me. We were so broke that she accepted his deal.

Once he and his partner had unrestricted access to me, the abuse got immeasurably worse. I didn’t think I would survive it. I wasn’t sure I wanted to survive it.

Somehow, someone noticed what was happening and called CPS. I was taken to a foster care center in Las Vegas, NV. They performed a rape kit and shuffled me into a massive dormitory where I shared a single bathroom with 30 other boys. I stayed there in shock for 74 days. 

Eventually I got to live with a foster family. They were wonderful, loving people, and I will forever be grateful for them. But I was still a deeply traumatized child (now teen) living with other deeply traumatized children.

In the 5 years I spent in foster homes, I attempted suicide twice. I moved around and changed schools so often it was impossible to maintain friendships.

Moving from school to school also meant I was constantly losing credits, so I didn’t get a high school graduation. I never got a cap and gown or had the chance to walk across the stage and receive a diploma while my family cheered me on.

But I survived. Even though I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

My life today is very different. I was able to get my GED. I’ve built a career I’m proud of. I have an amazing partner who is my rock and from whom I draw courage every day.

I am a survivor of childhood abuse and sexual assault. I still have PTSD. I still suffer the nightmares, the panic attacks, the hypervigilance. I will carry that trauma for as long as I live. It’s a part of me, but it does not define me.

This work, what we are doing with this campaign, this is how I want to define my life.

The timing of this message with the release of Jill’s platform <[link removed]> couldn’t be more perfect. What Jill and all of us on the team are fighting for are the solutions that will reduce the number of children in crisis.

Neither Republicans nor Democrats are serious about addressing these issues. Republicans want to completely eliminate the Social Security disability payments that kept my mother and me alive. Democrats want to means-test everything to death, to calculate just how poor and desperate people have to be to “qualify” for basic human dignity.

Jill’s economic bill of rights, her pledge to guarantee housing and healthcare (including mental healthcare) as a human right, her disability rights platform and a whole lot more would have saved me from a childhood of constant cycles of abuse and a lifetime of trauma.

There are 7 million American children receiving federal assistance right now. There are at least 360,000 in foster care at any given time. It’s not too late for us to save them.

I’m so proud to be part of this team. We are working our hearts out to put justice on the ballot this November.

If you’re still reading, thank you.

Thank you for listening to my story. Thank you for supporting this campaign. Thank you for being in the fight.

If this message moved you or inspired you, I ask that you make a contribution to Jill’s campaign today so that we can continue this work

<[link removed]>DONATE NOW <[link removed]>Throughout everything that happened, at every step of the way, there were always people looking out for me. It is because of them that I’m still here.

I want to honor them by amplifying that effort on a national scale by electing a president who will always fight for people, planet, and peace.

Thank you again for listening. If you have a story you’d be willing to share about how Jill’s policies <[link removed]> would impact your life, we would love to hear from you. You can leave a message below. 

<[link removed]>Share your story <[link removed]>In solidarity,

Patrick Dillon
Deputy National Field Director
Team Jill Stein 2024

Paid for by Jill Stein for President 2024

 ©2024 Jill Stein for President 2024, all rights reserved

Jill Stein for President, www.jillstein2024.com
P.O. Box 4359, Fall River, MA 02723-0415
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