It was the whispers that bothered Melanie most. The little girl had been in foster care since age 2, but she hated being called a "foster child." The word "foster" burned like a brand.

She heard adults whisper:
"She won't amount to anything. She's just a foster child."
"Watch her. She might steal. She's a foster child."

Melanie's mother had been a foster child too. She first became pregnant at age 13 through rape. She gave two children up for adoption at birth. She kept Melanie, but not for very long. Melanie was taken into state custody because of her mother's neglect and abuse.

These days, the state is committed to finding permanency for children quickly. They must be returned to their own homes or become available for adoption within 18 months. That wasn't true for Melanie and so many children like her; they grew up in foster care. No matter how good a foster care program is, being away from their families is very frightening and emotionally difficult for children.

Melanie remembers a childhood full of endless moves from one foster home to another and constant worries about her absent mother: "Where was she? How was she? When was she coming back?" Melanie was lonely and afraid and finally angry. She came to Youth Villages for Treatment Foster Care at age 12.

When she came to us, our counselors saw a beautiful child who had a kind of inner strength and a fire to succeed; she wanted to prove that what people thought about foster children was just wrong. Counselors gave Melanie support and stoked her ambition.

But all the hard work could have been undone when Melanie turned 18 and lost the safety net provided by the state for foster children. Many former foster children can't make it on their own and end up on the streets -- or in the jails. Fortunately, Melanie didn't have to go it alone.

In 1999, the year that Melanie was graduated from high school, Clarence Day, through his Day Foundation, helped Youth Villages begin our Transitional Living program. The program provides support for former foster children in their young adult years, helping them find housing, continue their education through college or vo-tech training, learn to budget, handle their own medical needs and reunite with their families, if possible.

"For most of my life, I felt like I was on my own," Melanie says. "I was this little girl with holes in my shoes. Youth Villages was the one thing that I could always count on. I have a whole organization behind me. Sometimes I pinch myself to make sure it's not a dream."