WAY Alliance and our founder’s adopted son Logen (who aged out of foster care last summer) were featured in a their local newspaper this last week. Read the story below!
April 11, 2019 | By Andres David Lopez, Staff Writer
Group to connect foster children with mentors
Rather than go hungry, Logen Miller said, he scavenged for food from neighborhood trash cans.
Inside his foster home, he said, he was surrounded by drugs and alcohol. He was neglected and underfed. A few months shy of 18, he ran away.
“On paper, I looked like I was the worst kid in the world,” he said. “I was on multiple drugs and all sorts of stuff. I had very aggressive behavior. I was a runaway risk and I would hit things, put holes in walls, throw chairs, all sorts of stuff.”
Logen is more stable now because he was referred to WAY Alliance, a nonprofit that had not launched officially. Founded by Joy, who lives in Aubrey, the nonprofit is working to help change outcomes for young people aging out of the foster care system.
“A relationship with a caring, supportive adult has a domino effect on the youth in terms of helping them develop self-esteem,” Joy said. “It’s almost like the catalyst in positive outcomes for youth and it all starts with that relationship and building trust.”
A full-time graphic designer, Joy registered WAY Alliance as a nonprofit last year. She recruited board members with experience in the child welfare system, including three former foster parents, two former court appointed special advocates and a licensed therapist with more than 20 years’ experience.
The nonprofit will match young people aging out of the foster care system with mentors. Through resource coordinators, it will help them access education, housing and other basic needs. It will also help them think about careers and provide them with life skill training, Joy said.
