Angel was born into foster care. At birth, drugs were found in her system so she was immediately placed with a foster family. For years, Angel bounced around from house to house, seeing her mom here and there, but never anything permanent. At 6 years old she and her siblings were placed with an aunt; unfortunately, she experienced abuse in that home and again moved to a new foster home. As any child who was separated from their family would, Angel cried for her family every day. Though this was normal, the foster parents told Angel she was crazy for missing them- they just could not understand. Several years and moves later, Angel “went wild.” She distracted herself with alcohol, boys, and anything else that would allow her to drown her feelings and ignore her pain.
At age 14, Angel’s mom got out of prison. After so many years of separation, Angel was finally going to get to live with her mom! However, things quickly took a turn for the worse and Angel found herself surrounded by drugs, different men in and out, and no food or water. She hated it. After a year, Angel’s best friend’s parents adopted her- another chance for a new start! But as many children who have experienced trauma do, Angel found herself again turning to things and activities that would distract from her pain. Her friend’s parents felt that she was a bad influence on their children and Angel was again moved and placed at Childhaven. Based on years of experience, Angel assumed that Childhaven would be the same as every other placement: no one would care about her and it wouldn’t take long for her to be moved again. It took about a year, but Angel slowly realized that this placement was different. When Angel had panic attacks, the houseman, Monica, would hold her and help her through them. No matter how Angel acted out or what hurtful things she said, she found that the houseparents were there for her no matter what.
Angel now considers her houseparents from Childhaven to be her real parents. In May of 2020, Angel was married and her former housedad, Rusty, walked her down the aisle. Angel and her husband have a sweet baby boy, and the 3 of them visit Rusty and Monica often and spend all holidays with them. Angel’s message to other girls in foster care is, “Let your guard down and let people care and let people in… Don’t hold up a wall and think that you have to do everything alone.”
