Becky's Story

I step into my apartment and feel a sense of humility and pride. The furnishings, the laptop, and the printer-all from Just in Time for Youth (JIT)*. When I found the courage to ask for help, JIT never hesitated for a moment, providing the necessities to succeed on my own, in college-and helping to heal my heart.

Not many people can say they were never truly wanted from the moment they were born, but I am one of the few who can. My parents did their best, but were not capable of caring for my sister and me. We were locked away and nearly starved to death until the police rescued us and we became part of the foster care system. During my seventeen years in foster care, I was placed in eight different foster homes (not including group homes) and endured extreme work responsibilities and religious fanaticism. My feelings of being unwanted escalated. All I ever wished was for someone to hold me and make the world disappear. But, that would not happen until I was much older.

Finally, I found kindness in a foster placement, finished high school, and enrolled in Mira Costa College. I needed school supplies and had no way of purchasing them. JIT jumped in and saved the day-and encouraged me to succeed. Later, JIT volunteers came to my aid by completely furnishing my empty apartment. Now, as I look around my new digs, I smile with a sigh of relief. This is where I really belong. I'm home.

Linda's Story

I lift my eyes from my laptop and scan my room. It's perfect with its colorful comforter and linens-everything coordinated the way I like it. Thank goodness for *Just in Time for Youth (JIT). I won a JIT College Bound grant for a laptop and furnishings for my college apartment. Yes, a dream come true-I'm in college. I feel so lucky. However, I know it's less luck, and more perseverance and hard work. By all accounts, I should never have made it this far.

My parents lived paycheck to paycheck, neither graduating from high school. I vowed to make my life different. I repeated to myself, "If I keep going to school and go to college, I'll have a better future."

But how to get there? When I was in sixth grade, my older sister told me about a program at her high school (El Cajon Valley) that helped students get into college, teaching studying techniques and organization skills. With it, I'd pretty much be guaranteed a spot in college. I had to go to El Cajon Valley and get into that program.

A year later, my parents got divorced. I moved with my mom to Albuquerque, New Mexico and hated it. Another year passed before my mom and dad agreed I could move back to California and live with Dad, to go to my chosen high school.

First, Dad and I lived with his friend, caring for his elderly parents. We were to stay three months and get three thousand dollars to start our lives. Three months turned into six months and three thousand dollars turned into zero. We had nothing but Dad's van.

I was fourteen and had just started my freshmen year at El Cajon Valley HS. I was homeless, living in Dad's van and using a friend's bathroom and kitchen. At that point, I did not care where I lived, as long as I could continue at the same school.

During three months of living in the van with my dad, I noticed changes in him. He took the divorce hard and kept comparing me to my mother. Around my fifteenth birthday, he exploded and kicked me out of the van. Hours later, I finally contacted a friend, whose mother came and took me home. She called Child Protective Services and I became part of the foster care system.

Next, a series of homes, a month with another friend, and my first foster placement, where I was made to feel hopeless. Somehow, I turned that hopelessness into the drive that kept me determined to continue at same high school, on my path to college. After yet another unstable foster living arrangement, my fourth social worker took me to my next foster home. Those folks took more of an interest in me-even helped me find my first job, in retail sales. Then disaster struck. I left candles burning near my clothes and they caught on fire. I lost everything, but the clothes on my back-pajamas and goofy Sponge Bob socks. Later that night, I was taken to an emergency center for kids, where I stayed for two weeks. I was a sophomore and it was finals week. My math teacher picked me up, so I could take my finals. Thank God for her. Then to yet another placement, but I hung in, holding a series of part-time jobs. Yet, I continued at the same high school-and graduated.

Now I attend Grossmont College, maintaining a 3.2GPA and taking courses toward the Cardiovascular Technology Program. Also, I work twenty hours a week at Grossmont for the foster youth program I initiated, EFFORT, an outreach program to help foster youth receiving financial aid. I work directly with a financial aid counselor as a student liaison. I encourage students to never give up-never take "no" for an answer. I urge them to become their dreams. I did.

Brandon's Story

My name is Brandon and I am 18 years old. I am currently attending Grossmont Community College full time. After two years of general education studies, I hope to transfer to a four-year university, preferably the University of California at Los Angeles. Ultimately, I intend to attend the University of the Pacific's school of pharmacy, with a goal of working in the field of alternative and homeopathic medicine. Having a laptop computer will allow me to complete assignments, conduct research, and communicate with my professors more effectively. Having access to time management applications on the computer will help me manage my many obligations.

In my academic career thus far, I have overcome many challenges. As a foster child, I changed schools frequently, making it difficult to maintain focus on my studies. Once I settled in at Mount Miguel High School, I had the additional distractions of football (four years) and basketball (two years) to balance against my academic work. Additionally, the distractions of living in a group home did not make it easy to do any work. Finally, maintaining my relationships with my four siblings required additional effort and energy on my part. Throughout, I focused on my ultimate goal of being the first in my family to complete a four-year degree and used that motivation to keep me focused. In the end, I was not only recognized for my on field performance (all league) but also for my academic excellence (all academic).

With the assistance of Just In Time, I hope to use this computer and printer to begin my collegiate career on a high note. I know that I face a minimum of eight years of school prior to setting out to the working world and I appreciate the opportunity to have the same technological abilities as my non-foster classmates.