Kolton was a fifteen year old boy bouncing around the foster care system. Eventually the system gave up on placing him in a home and he lost his chance at happiness, until a program called You Gotta Believe! (YGB) got his case file. YGB looked throughout his life and tried to find Kolton a home with a previous family member that had fallen through the foster care systems cracks. With luck, they found Kolton a home with a long lost uncle. Kolton’s uncle, Bill, went through many classes and became a fit guardian and later adopted Kolton!
In the essay “To the End of June: The Intimate Life of American Foster Care,”Cris Beam shares her experience with a non-profit group that helps place teenagers into homes. Beam starts her essay by stating facts about the group You Gotta Believe!, and shares her experience within the organization. YGB helps by taking teenagers that are difficult to find homes for, and places them with parents that the adoption agency overlooked. Beam says “It calls itself a homelessness prevention program,” (Pg 61).
Beam …show more content…
Beam considers this the reason why YGB is really a homeless prevention program. I agree that it is, but I also believe YGB is more than that. YGB helps kids find homes that no one else wants to do. As the teenagers get older, they become lost in the foster care system and finding older teenagers homes helps them not only by preventing homelessness, but also giving them a sense of worth and belonging. All any human wants is to love and be loved in return. YGB gives the best gift a person can ask for by giving children a family. These kids will get love the rest of their lives, not just attention until they turn eighteen and are no longer the states problem. Yes, YBG does prevent teens from becoming homeless, but it also gives them a lifeline for the rest of their