Fostering the Future Returns with Fresh, Revealing Stories

It’s that time of year again!

This Sunday, May 1, Children’s Rights will launch our 4th annual Fostering the Future campaign in honor of National Foster Care Month. All month long, we’ll be raising awareness about what it means to be a child in state care by sharing the first-person accounts of those who have been there.

We’re confident you’ll be moved by this year’s 30 bloggers. Among them is Yasmine Koenig, an incredibly brave young woman, who opens up about escaping an arranged marriage in Palestine, then entering the Illinois child welfare system. Another writer, MelissaRoshan (MelRo) Potter, tells of the horrific abuse and instability she suffered, before becoming a successful model and makeup artist. And artist Ronald Draper describes the extraordinary impact his adoptive mom has had on his life.

You’ll also get a raw account of what growing up in foster care was like for comedian Monroe Martin, who has appeared on the Netflix series Master of None and NBC’s Last Comic Standing.

“I went from having freedom to having a strict bedtime, eating with a bunch of strangers and showering in communal showers,” Martin writes of his transition into a foster care group home. “It felt like prison, except I did nothing to deserve to be there in the first place.”

Last year, our writers’ poignant stories received 1.25 million views on social media. This year, we want to reach 2 million views. You can help us make our goal by following the campaign on CR’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, liking and sharing the posts using the hashtag #FosterTruth, and encouraging friends to do the same.

Together, we can grow a movement that can make change!