NOTE - The youth's names have been changed and images withheld for their privacy and protection because they are still in foster care awaiting permanence. Through their stories, though, their identities and personalities are as vivid as their futures are bright.



My name is DH and I’m 14 years old and in the 8th grade. My playlist includes Cane Brown, Luke Bryan and lots of country music.

In my free time I like to play video games and play sports and be outside. To relax, sometimes I read and sometimes I lay down and take a nap.


After high school I want to be a welder and later on in life I want to go to university to get my degree to be a mechanic.


I was in foster care for 1.5 to 2 years. It helped me learn a lot but it wasn’t really good because I didn’t get to be with my family. I learned how to take care of myself and a lot of things with my anger like I can’t be angry at everything. The counselors and DCFS workers helped me learn that. I was angry because I wanted to be with my family, and they always told me that they were going to separate me from my brother because they thought it wasn’t good for us to be together sometimes when we would fuss and fight. But we learned to control it so we could stay together. 


I learned from my mistakes to be a kid and not be an adult. I was so used to being with my brother and trying to take care of him that my foster parent would get mad and tell me to be a kid. It made me feel like it took a lot off my back.


Some things I didn’t like about foster care is that they would not give us privileges even when we were good like going outside during the week when we didn’t have school. They left us alone a lot, too.


I’ve lived in three placements. The first one I loved. They treated us like we were their own kids. We had to leave because they were not certified foster parents. The last one was pretty cool. It had some ups and downs. They were always working and stuff.


If I could change one thing, they should give the kids more attention and help them to know and understand that they are not trying to harm them and they actually want them to be back with their parents.


I came into care because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  If I needed help, I would ask my grandma. She would try her best to help me. Since I have been reunited with my mom It feels good to be home. I have more freedom and can play more sports. I get to meet my new family members, the cousins that are newborns. 


January 17, 2024 – Bonding Day

You finished the Oral Health/Life Skills Training Series in March 2023, how did it feel to wait all this time to finally get your braces?

Waiting for braces wasn’t bad. I have good patience. The time helped me learn how to take care of my braces. I watched tons of videos on how it would feel, the pain, how to relieve the pain and things like that, what kinds of foods to eat and stuff like that.


I don’t believe that you [Ms. Lacy] would go all around the world to help kids and then not do it. Plus you said the business was small so I knew it would take time to get it going. I knew it wasn’t gonna happen in a week.


Last thoughts about braces: I just want to see the after results!

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2024 - A Year in Review

By Leslie Lacy • January 17, 2025
read about what Fostering Hope Louisiana accomplished in 2024 with your help

Epiphany Grace

July 2, 2024
NOTE - The youth's names have been changed and images withheld for their privacy and protection because they are still in foster care awaiting permanence. Through their stories, though, their identities and personalities are as vivid as their futures are bright. August 2023 My name is Epiphany Grace. I’m 15 years old and in the 7 th grade. In my free time I enjoy listening to worship songs and Zack Bryan. I play volleyball and softball (catcher, third, second and outfield) but it’s just a hobby. I came into foster care in December of 2022 because I was living with my sister who relapsed and because I missed a lot of school. Also, she was mentally and physically abusive to me. My mother is in Shreveport and my dad is in Kentucky. I do not want to live with them. If I had to rate my foster care experience, it has been good for me because my foster mom supports me. She was my science teacher, and she shows she cares about me. Actions speak louder than words. Foster care showed me a schedule and that there are other people out there who have been through things and it's not just me. The one bad thing about it is not having social media, but it’s probably a good thing. I needed it to be away from me, but I didn’t want it to be. I’m in therapy, where I get direction when I don’t know how to handle a problem. If I needed help, one person I could go to is my foster mom because she supports me in all of my ideas. I could also call on my DCFS case manager. I love her. She is the best I could ever have because she goes with the child’s best interest and puts my decision out there. June 2024 At a moment, I wanted to go back to the way I was living, not because I liked the situation but because I was never used to being stable and I’m not great with change. I’m so happy I stuck through my feelings and let God move in mysterious ways. I’m now adopted and love where I am so, therefore, wait and see what God has planned. Epiphany Grace’s Comments on her Banding Day June 17, 2024 Wow! This is just amazing. This feels weird but so relieving. I’m so excited for the future and what God has planned. I’m so grateful for Mrs. Leslie! She is a miracle from God. Without her none of this would be possible. It was a wait, but so worth it. You have done so much for all these kids/people who have been through the worst. I’m so blessed to have this happen to me. Banding Day Thoughts - A Foster Parent's Perspective Jenny – Epiphany Grace’s Foster Parent What a phenomenal program Fostering Hope Louisiana and Mrs. Lacy is. Little did I know that working in an orthodontic office at 18 years old would give me patience. Fast forward 23 years and I have been blessed with a foster child in desperate need of orthodontic care, not just for vanity’s sake, but also a dental need. However, when you say yes to the call, how do you afford it all. The short answer is, you don’t and that’s where Fostering Hope Louisiana has filled the gap and carried our foster child and us through this transition. The wait [for braces] was long but it allowed others to fall in love with our child. Waiting was hard and seemed to be never ending, then all of a sudden, we were funded and making appointments. For me, the process has taught me love, patience, and seeing God at work not only in our lives but seeing the generosity of others. For my foster daughter, today is a dream come true. For kids in foster care, basic survival is all they can think of, so braces are a pipe dream. Seeing her shed tears of joy because 1. She finally isn’t receiving empty and broken promises, and 2. the ONE thing that has given her so much insecurity is finally no longer going to stop her from truly smiling and so much radiant brightness. I can never say enough great things about this program and all it has done, is doing and will continue to do in the future. The best is yet to come! IT IS WORTH THE WAIT!!!  Epiphany Grace - Hindsight July 2024 Before I got my braces, I was impatient and always second guessed if I was ever going to get them. Mrs. Lacy did, in fact, guarantee that I was going to get them but there was always a thought in my head, “something is going to go wrong, and you won’t get them.” But I had hope. I always texted and checked in with her on how everything was going. When the day came to get them, I was so excited. The first ten days were the worst, but now everything is well. I’m so grateful that I just waited. Epiphany Grace's Thoughts on Therapy July 2024 Therapy! At first, I DID NOT want to go at AT ALL. I always said that I didn’t need or want it. I never wanted to go. In the room with my therapist, I always would watch the clock waiting for her to say, “Okay, you made it.” Now that I accepted the fact that I have to go to therapy, it’s been an amazing thing for me. I didn’t have a choice when it came to going to therapy. IT also majorly depends on your therapist. If you don’t like them, you will NOT like therapy. I love mine and now I look forward to it, so just keep giving it a try and see what good benefits it can bring you.

Jocelyn's Story

February 1, 2024
NOTE - The youth's names have been changed and images withheld for their privacy and protection because they are still in foster care awaiting permanence. Through their stories, though, their identities and personalities are as vivid as their futures are bright. My name is Jocelyn and I’m 17 years old. My playlist consists of Korn and Metallica. In my free time I like playing Pokémon, watching Anime, reading Manga and listening to music. They are the things I do to practice self-care. I have crooked teeth. I think that it would help me with my speaking because I have a lisp. I just want straight teeth. I’m probably going to work at like the mall or something. I’m thinking at Hot Topic. I don’t know if I want to go to school or anything. I came into care because my mom was mentally ill. She’s schizo-affective bi-polar, some other things like that. My bio dad died when I was like 3. After high school I'm probably going to work at the mall or something. I don't know if I want to go to school or something. My foster care experience overall was probably like okay but my first one was bad because they didn’t know anything about mental health and stuff like that. They were just like really hateful. They would compare their experience, or my old foster mom would compare her experiences and childhood trauma with ours. She was overall super childish and inappropriate. I have ADHD, she acted like I didn’t have it. There just wasn’t an effort to be compassionate or educate themselves about mental health. In my current foster home, they’re patient and the they know about mental health, like taking medication and know about that type of stuff. Foster care has made my life better because I feel like I opened up better (with my current placement), I am learning how to be an adult – like driving practice. If there was one thing I would change about foster care it would be mental health awareness. I feel like there can be more done with how the foster homes are chosen, like educating them about autism, disorders, and trauma and stuff like that. I wish my first foster home were more educated and understanding like my current home.
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