Foster Care Experiences Contest.

It escapes me how I first met Marie. She was not quite sixteen and had been living on her own since thirteen. She didn't have a place to go and this came out in our conversation. I took her home. Because of some rules, couldn't keep her with me for long. We found a place for her to live and work to pay her bills.

She just had to work too much to pay for a car that cost too much. We went through lots of other teen-aged angst together. She usually ignored every bit of advice I gave her, but survived somehow.

Eventually I knew that she left home because she had been molested. I waited for her to be ready to talk to me about it. She did talk to me about it. I helped her to find help for this problem. She surprised me by listening to me for once.

This experience changed something inside me. I am not entirely certain what, but I began to know when people had been sexually assaulted before they ever said a word about it to me. I just tried to be supportive and patient and they usually told me about it when they were ready.

Many of these people had been in Foster Care and had never spoken about their terrible experiences to anyone else before me. The statistics about sexual molestation of children in Foster Care are daunting enough, but experience tells me that reality is much worse than the statistics admit.

More normal people are needed in Foster Care who can be trusted not to sexually abuse children entrusted to their care. I wish to become one of them. I strongly encourage others to do the same. You don't have to be perfect to give children a chance at a decent life.