Foster the People SOS Series: The Inspiration

I was inspired. Maybe I should have done this a long time ago.

I started this to not only inspire, be inspired, but to bring together awareness for foster care since May is foster care awareness month. On top of that, to also to create a community.

Today is May 1st and all throughout the month of May, I will have people who have experienced hardship (as stated below) share their stories-- myself included.

This series is not just for foster kids- it is for wards of the court, refugees, homeless, or anything of the sort that we have experienced as children. If you have, I would love for you to join the series here!

Why Join? 

You can tell any or all parts of your story. You can remain anoyn if you wish to. The point is to inspire and grow together!

Put the past behind you, right?

Yes, but no. There is something to be said for holding fast on lessons learned from the past. There is a way to hold onto the lessons that have been learned and moving forward at the same time.

This does not mean holding onto negativity at all but moving forward. In my opinion, in any situation you can see it with darkness or with light. It is a choice. Whether we stand still long enough to change that direction is up to you.

This does not mean that you live day to day as if the past is following you- I mean, you can, but what is the point? It is the point of making that you take what has happened and move on from it. You grow from it and you put those lessons so to speak in an archive. You only access them when you need to, when it benefits you for growth, or you use it to help others.

Why a community for this?

Because at the end of the day, we are not all so different. You can come from any walk of life but at the end of the day, put together 50 people who were in foster care and even though their experience won't be remotely similar or the same, they already have a bond- something in common.

When someone says to me that they were a foster child, it is not just the human bond that automatically brings us together. There is a mere deep understanding even at the surface level without having to say a word.

That person no longer is just a stranger with those two words. They are more than that.

Why do a Series for it?

Most people who were in foster care may say that it is not a proud moment for them. They did not cause this. So my point in having people join this series is to show how powerful stories are, how they can help, and also to have it be part of a growing process (both individually and collectively).

Also, not any two stories are a like. Foster kids or former foster kids are like snowflakes that way. Why do I say that? Because unlike your average neighbourhood kids and all their coolness, foster kids have been through more. More than some adults have.

Some kids end up in foster care by chance or by one stupid decision on the act of the parent. Or even the beautiful act of the parent knowing they couldn't care for the kid- which is the opposite end. But sometimes it is that those kids really have been through things that nightmares are made of.

JOIN US + TELL YOUR STORY- Sign up here! 

http:bit.ly/1qpfE9B

Why do the people need to hear this? 

Just as I show in my recent article about the 5 Reasons the Race Question is a Toxic Crisis this stands to show that for similar reasons we stereotype people who have or are in foster care. We tend to try to draw our own conclusions not just about the past of a foster child, but where they are and where they are headed.

People need to understand, that the same point that I bring up about race, is the same point I will make about those that are or have been in foster care. We are all the same when you turn out the lights. You can't distinguish by looks who those are that have been in foster care.

We need to break these barriers down slowly and with force. Society needs to hear YOUR story and your struggles AND your triumphs because when we do, we can band together to understand it and move forward. We can look at this as a community within, not a community without.

We need to show to those are currently in the situation that they have a way out! They can break the barriers and it doesn't matter if they end up working at McDonalds or Target or being CEO of Apple. It matters that they try and grow!

So join the series here and tell your story because if you leave it unsaid, it won't help, but if you do, you can be part of a really cool movement.