08/05/2025
Inquire today at kyfaces.ky.gov!
I can’t stop thinking about the kids who age out of foster care without a family.
The ones who pack their whole life into a trash bag.
Not because they’ve done anything wrong,
but because the system is done with them.
Eighteen candles on a cake.
And then what?
People say,
“There are 18–21 programs for foster youth.”
But then what?
Who do they call when the car breaks down at 25?
Who comes to their wedding?
Who sits in the hospital waiting room when their baby is born?
Who answers the phone at 2 a.m. when life is too heavy?
Do you know how many kids walk out of foster care alone every year?
Too many.
Too many names.
Too many stories.
Too many faces that never got the ending they deserved.
We celebrate reunifications.
We celebrate adoptions.
But there’s another side of foster care we can’t ignore…
the side where no family shows up.
This shouldn’t be normal.
This shouldn’t be acceptable.
Church,
community,
this is where we step in.
They don’t need a program.
They need people.
People who will stay.
People who will answer the phone.
People who will cheer them on when no one else does.
Aging out shouldn’t mean being left out.
It should mean stepping into adulthood knowing they still have a family,
because family is not defined by paperwork,
it’s defined by love that doesn’t leave.
