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 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 |
