FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. \u2014 Each year, thousands of young people in Florida age out of foster care when they turn 18 \u2014 often with no permanent home, no financial support and no clear path forward. <\/p>\n
A South Florida organization is working to change that.<\/p>\n
For Sandra Guzman, a 21-year-old mother of two, the fear of aging out began long before her birthday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was 17 in foster care, they started talking about aging out, what that looks like, and for me, I was very nervous. I didn\u2019t know what I was going to do after 18,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Guzman\u2019s life had already been marked by instability. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt the age of 15, I was kicked out of my mother\u2019s house. So from that point on, I was actually in a couple of shelters in New York,\u201d she said. \u201cFrom 15 to 17, I was hopping around couches.\u201d<\/p>\n
She eventually moved to Miami to live with an uncle, but the situation quickly deteriorated. <\/p>\n
\u201cVery early on, I\u2019d say like maybe even two weeks into being there, my uncle started making really inappropriate advances at me and it made me super uncomfortable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
With help from her children\u2019s father and a coworker, Guzman left and found her way to the FLITE Center, a nonprofit that supports young adults in similar situations to Guzman.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe FLITE Center was formed in 2009 to serve as a one-stop resource center for youth who are aging out of the foster care system and other youth who are survivors of trauma,\u201d said CEO Kristina DaSilva. <\/p>\n
Guzman says the support changed her life. <\/p>\n
\u201cI actually tell everybody that the FLITE feels like home,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cOftentimes it\u2019s just the cold reality of when kids turn 18, the foster parents many, many times abandon the young people,\u201d added DaSilva. \u201cAnd so FLITE Center is here to do all the work that we can to lend that helping hand.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Guzman, that help meant housing, food assistance and guidance. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I first came into FLITE, their most important thing was housing that they were helping me with. I wasn\u2019t working, but at the time they helped me get food stamps and sign up and do that process. They helped me do my extended foster care process,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Guzman is now studying culinary arts at Atlantic Technical College, hoping to combine her love of cooking with her desire to help others. <\/p>\n
She still participates in FLITE Center activities. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey have great cooking classes, which I love, where they bring a professional chef in,\u201d she said. \u201cEven on a rainy day, I\u2019ll come. My kids will play back there. You\u2019re always welcome here.\u201d<\/p>\n
FLITE Center provides services to more than 2,000 young adults each year, including housing assistance, job readiness, mental health support and a college boost program to help participants earn GEDs.<\/p>\n
For families who know someone who may need help, referrals can be made through the FLITE Center website by clicking here.<\/a> <\/p>\n