Former Colorado Wednesday's Child found loving mother, voice in advocacy
Every year, hundreds of children get adopted out of foster care, and it changes the trajectory of their lives. Finding that one caring adult makes a huge difference in a child's life.
Recently, Desiree was a guest at a national conference on adoption. She was there to share her adoption journey.
"I've always been very vocal, and I've never been shy about sharing my story," she told CBS News Colorado. "Like you go through the trauma, and it does change you as a person, but also looking at where I'm at now in my life I don't think I would change anything."
Her story is long with lots of twists and turns. Desiree went into foster care with her younger brother when she was six. The siblings were adopted together when she was eight. Her adoptive parents struggled with both children and ended up terminating Desiree's adoption. She ended up in a group home where she got access to excellent services, including a court-appointed special advocate, a youth connections advocate through Raise the Future, and a therapist. In 2010, Desiree was featured on CBS News Colorado's Wednesday's Child.
"I had a CASA. I had a Wednesday's Wonderful worker. My caseworker was phenomenal. I had a great therapist. I will forever love those people," Desiree said.
To this day, she's still in touch with Chelsea, her youth connections advocate through Raise the Future. Together, they found Amy, who lived in New York and wanted to become a single mom. At age 13, Desiree had found her forever family.
"It was just perfect to adopt a teenager for me," Amy said in an interview in 2023.
"I got a safe space, a safe person, and understanding that I hadn't necessarily had," Desiree explained.
Now at age 27, Desiree still feels the effects of her trauma.
"I'm still figuring out how to regulate my emotions, and deal with things, and learning things that I wasn't necessarily taught as a kid and unlearning things that I taught myself as a kid," she explained.
She's grateful every day that she has a mother who loves her.
"She gave me the space and the ability to figure out what I needed, and then she helped me get that," Desiree said of her mother.
Desiree has a bachelor's degree now and just completed a cosmetology certificate. She's living and working in New York City. She's also feeling empowered by sharing her story at the conference. She hopes to do more advocacy work in the adoption space.
LINK: Wednesday's Child on CBS Colorado
You can find out more about the work that Raise the Future is doing by giving them a call at 303-755-4756 or 800-451-5246, or visiting Raise the Future's website.
