Miracles Still Happen!
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More than 10.5 million children will spend time in foster care. More than 300,000 will age out of foster care in poor health and unprepared for success in higher education or the workforce. 75,000 former youth, who age out the system will experience homelessness. Miracles is providing a solution.
Michelle Walker along with her husband Tyrone saw a group of young people huddling on corners in Tampa, Florida. They were skipping school, selling drugs, and gang banging. They saw generations of youth who had no sense of purpose or direction.
A single mother at age 17, Michelle understands how fortunate she was to have the support of family and the opportunity to remain in her home and in school to complete her degree programs. Unfortunately, that is not the story of millions of children who are thrown out of and in some cases snatched from their homes ending up in foster care.
The number of children and youth who are placed in foster care is increasing daily, however, the quality of care and supportive services are on a constant decline. Government agencies are cutting spending and provide little programing that will prepare the youth for life outside foster care when they are abruptly thrown out on the day of their eighteenth birthday. Many foster care children never know what it’s like to live in a home environment as they spend their lives being moved from institutional setting to dormatory style settings.
This atmosphere only fosters a prision mentality in the youth; a place where many of them find themselves in the end. In an effort to become a part of the solution to this enourmous problem and to provide an opportunity for foster care youth to experience what it is like to live in a home setting, Michelle opened three foster care homes for boys and girls where they can live until they reach the age of eighteen.
The youth of Miracles have been the victims of prostutition, incest, physical abuse and human trafficing. Thanks to Miracles, the youth are given a rare opportunity to live in a home with other young people who for many become the only family they ever have. Miracle’s youth are provided with educational support, job training, life skill coaching, financial planning and spiritual enrichment. They are prepared to leave Miracles at eighteen, but they leave knowing that they have a permanent support in Michelle and the Miracles family for life. What sets Miracles apart from all others is that they receive no Federal government funds.
In 2011 alone, Miracles has housed 99 youth. They have provided various forms of supportive services to over 450 youth. Their services to their 99 youth exceed the monthly support they recieve, yet Miracles can proudly boast of High School and College graduates; their youth are in independent housing and gainfully employed.
Krystal shares, ‘I owe my life to Miracles. If it was not for them, I would not be here today. My father was all I had and after he died, I became a victim of human trafficing and nearly lost my life. Thanks to Michelle, I am now in college, employed, living in my own housing and giving back by working with the youth at Miracles. I am a living witness that Miracles Still Happen!
More About This Charity
Region
South
Category
Human Services
Name
Miracles Outreach Community Development Center, Inc.
Mission
To provide a safe, secure, nuturing home-style environment for youth ages 12-17 years old, thereby reducing the risk factors that leads to juvenile delinquency. Assuring that all foster care youth receive educational opportunities that leads to completion of their High School Education.
Impact
- This charity raised $6,034.05 in the past year
- This Achievement helped 99 people
- This charity helped 450 people in the past year
- 99 Foster Care youth Housed, Supportive Services provided to over 450 youth and families
Works In
United States
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