My story

When you have been abused or have suffered trauma at a young age you often wonder, “Who would I have been if this never would have happened to me?” I’ll never know who that girl would have been, but I can tell you who I am today because of certain people God choose to place in my life at certain times and transformative crossroads. My Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) was one of those people at one of those crossroads. 

At the age of 12 years old I was removed from my home by the State of North Carolina. I had been abused for as long as I can remember. My very first memories are of abuse. Not of sweet memories of family functions but of everything but by multiple people. My mom suffered from alcoholism. She had 3 daughters and was a magnet for pedophiles and their friends. I have since learned you do what you do based off where you are now. Because of this I no longer hold any ill will towards her or the choices she made during that time. Hurt people, hurt people. But those choices have had a lasting impact on me. I have worked through low self-esteem, addiction and accepting love and affection in whatever form it presented itself. I have spent years in therapy.

One of the ways I instill hope for the future in others is by using my experience and my resources to help vulnerable children aging out of foster care by providing meaningful resources, like homes, transportation, education and mentorship that they desperately need. Forward Hope is a non-profit I have founded that I am using to change the lives of kids just like me.