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When foster youth age out, many have nowhere to go. A local nonprofit hopes to change that.
By: Amanda Pirani
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This article contains mentions of suicide. If you or anyone you know is in crisis, the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline can be reached by calling or texting 988. More resources can be found here and locally here.
LOGAN, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Bree Thurston has been in and out of the foster care system most of her life.
When she was one month from turning 18, she had only a cell phone to her name and was at risk of homelessness.
“It got really rough there for a minute, especially because I was just working a minimum wage job in a small town,” Thurston said. “I never had the best family life … so things got complicated very, very quickly.”
Then, her caseworker introduced her to an organization called FosterHub.
Fosterhub helped find her a place to live and connect her to a full-time job. But most importantly, it brought her a sense of stability and support she didn’t have.
“That was honestly a huge sigh of relief,” Thurston said. “That I wasn’t being lied to over and over again.”
She’s since received her high school diploma and will soon begin her training to become a welder. She hopes to provide for her younger brother one day, who is still in the system.
In 2023, over 1,000 kids aged out of the foster care system in Ohio. A national report found that 85% of kids who enter the system after the age of 12 end up emancipated and on their own, instead of being adopted.
When they do, many, like Thurston, don’t have the family or resources to help them begin adulthood. That puts them at greater risk of incarceration, substance use and mental health issues.
There are some state resources available to support former foster kids. But the primary one, Bridges Ohio, requires that a person already have a job or be enrolled in an educational program.
“You have to have a job and work 80 hours (a month) first,” said FosterHub founder Michelle Mays. “How are you going to do that if you don’t have a place to live or sleep or eat? Who’s going to take you to work? … It’s just such a gap.”
To help address that need, Mays founded FosterHub, which connects aged out foster youth with the resources and support they need to live successful lives.
Thurston said Mays’ support has been critical as she works to build a life for herself.
“She wants to see us succeed, and she does everything she can to see it happen,” she said.
This May, FosterHub will open its own center in Hocking County, providing short-term housing and wraparound services to the young adults it serves.
Aging out foster youth in need of support
With no support, she married young and had her first child at 18. Research suggests nearly three out of four women who age out of the system become pregnant by the age of 21.
“It ended up not being a good fit for what I wanted my life to be,” Mays said. “I was a single mom at the age of 21, divorced, just working in factories. Temp job after temp job.”
Mays said that all changed when she found people in her life who mentored her and helped her build a career in the corporate world.
While there is more available to foster youth than when Mays was in the system, she said a lot of challenges remain.
“So, a lot of foster youth age out and will instantly become homeless,” she said. “They either couch surf on a friend’s couch … some of them go back to their bio parents … some of them commit crimes because being homeless and hungry sucks.”
Even if a foster kid is eligible for an existing support program, they might not know it exists or how to access it. That leads to stress and uncertainty about what will happen when they age out.
One California-based study performed by a professor of social work at Hunter College found that 42% of foster youth at a transitional age had thoughts of taking their own life.
After learning of local foster youth who lost their lives to suicide, Mays wanted to share her story and show people a bright future is possible for foster kids. In 2019, she co-authored a book with her best friend about her experiences with the foster care system.
FosterHub addresses individual needs of former foster youth
But she said she felt called to do more.
Mays and a close friend joined local Facebook groups for former foster youth and waited. If someone posted needing a ride to work or help moving a couch they reached out.
One day, she had a dream envisioning a center that could offer the same support more formally: a place that could help with housing, job training and necessities like clothes and food.
“I was like … what if we just become a hub?” she asked. “One place they can come, and we’ll help them sign up for all these things that are out there. We’ll hold their hand, we’ll guide them.”
Mays said that throughout her journey to starting FosterHub, she’s felt guided by her faith.
“I always say God blesses us so we can bless others,” she said. “He doesn’t bless us to keep it to ourselves.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, May’s book gained the attention of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), an organization that often works with foster youth.
She started building connections with other nonprofit organizations and policymakers. That network, along with local support, allowed Mays to launch FosterHub in 2022.
Now, Job and Family Services refers teens about to age out of the system to the organization, which works to address their individual needs.
FosterHub can help connect them to everything from mental health support to necessities like food or laundry.
If someone needs identification, Mays will walk them through the process of getting a new birth certificate or find them funding for drivers’ education classes. If they need housing or a job, she’ll make that happen too.
But she said the ultimate goal is teaching young people how to take care of themselves long term.
“You need a ride to work, I’ll give you a ride to work, but I’m also at the same time going to teach you how to drive,” Mays said. “And then we’re going to teach you how to save money and help you get a car so you can drive yourself to work.”
Mays said it’s important for those she works with to know there’s no expiration date on the community they’ve found. Some of the young adults she’s helped still keep in touch to share updates on their lives. Others have remained volunteers with FosterHub.
“We’re trying to set up a family atmosphere so they feel like they have a family and they have a support system,” she said. “Basically, everything I wished I’d had when I was a kid.”
Logan to see new center for FosterHub services
After years of working toward the goal of opening a physical center for FosterHub, Mays’ vision will become a reality this spring.
Local fundraisers and a grant from Gov. Mike DeWine allowed the organization to purchase a site in downtown Logan, which is currently in its construction phase.
The center will include 10 apartments, a community center, group therapy space, computer lab, kitchen, job training area and staff offices.
“We’re hoping … to see one of these in every four counties,” she said. “If it’s meant to be, it will happen.”
Amanda Pirani is WOUB’s Report for America Journalist covering Economic Livelihood. For more information about Report for America, you can click here.