Youth Stories

Jessica

Click here for a video of State Sen. Bob Jauch adjourning the Wisconsin Senate in honor of a remarkable youth.	Click of the photo of Jessica (above) to view her interview with Paul Piaskoski on Channel 58’s Eye to Eye (story aired Sept. 27, 2009)

Meet Jessica Holden. Jessica is an 18-year-old from Milwaukee. She is a 2009 graduate of Rufus King International Baccalaureate High School. Jessica participated in the National Forensic League, the National Honor Society and the Spanish Honor Society during high school. Jessica also held several jobs in high school to support all of her activities and interests. She received the prestigious Horatio Alger and Dell Scholarships. She attends Northwestern University.

Jessica has been in the foster care system since she was 10 years old. She has seen good and bad in the foster care system. She moved multiple times. She had foster parents who did not make her feel welcome, but she also found a true family with her foster mother, Chantel, who is supportive and encouraging.

While there were hard times in foster care, it was also a path to more stability and opportunity than she had at home. Her mother has mental health issues, and often kept Jessica up all night and out of school. Jessica credits her fifth grade teacher with making the call that brought Jessica into foster care – and more opportunities for safety and success than she had before.

Meet Ashley Whitfield, the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) assigned to Jessica. Ashley is a married 36 year old medical sales associate with two small children. Ashley became a CASA volunteer because she was tired about hearing the stories of children in the foster care system who slipped through the cracks. The two met in 2007. Ashley was struck by Jessica’s talent and work ethic.

“Jessica is a very gifted young lady, and she has something that most of us don’t have, a will and determination to be something and to give back,” Ashley said.

It was through teaming up with Jessica that Ashley learned about the challenges facing foster youth on the path to adulthood.

“Before getting involved with CASA, I never thought about young men and women aging out of the foster care system,” Ashley said. “That is a huge area of need. Most of us take for granted that we have responsible adult figures in our lives to help with the transition into adulthood. Many more youth like Jessica would benefit from someone in their lives to help them plan for college and beyond.”

Jessica challenges us to see the potential in each youth. What if every youth had a supportive foster parent, teachers who inspired their love of poetry, and their very own Court Appointed Special Advocate? What if the expectation was that each youth would exit foster care prepared?

For Jessica, the next stage is Northwestern. Ashley helped her move into her new dorm in September with pride. Later, Jessica would like to become a psychologist and help other young people succeed through their challenges.

Jessica is one of many successful foster youth. Help her spread her message of hope.

How can you help?

• Become a Court Appointed Special Advocate and ask to work with a teen.
• Help a teen make the transition to college by volunteering your special skill through Teen Transitions, or help with a drive to provide a teen with household items they need when starting off life on their own at 18.
• Employ foster youth in your workplace. Research shows that significant part-time work experience increases foster youth graduation rates more than any other single factor.
• Donate. Every dollar that we receive leverages another dollar in donated volunteer services, and for our teens, helps teens receive many more scholarship dollars for college.
• Follow Jessica’s example and thank your teachers. Jessica thanks her fifth grade teacher for making the call the brought her safety, her eighth grade teacher for inspiring her love of poetry, and the many teachers at Rufus King High School who challenged her to do her best, and provided continuity and support when she was changing placements. For foster youth and homeless youth, schools and teachers are often a link to stability, safety and encouragement. Most schools would appreciate assistance with tutoring for foster youth, or help with fees on behalf of youth who cannot pay them.

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