The Purpose I Found
This reflection is shared with permission and represents one youth’s lived experience. Virtue Visionary exists to protect spaces where youth can speak honestly, be seen fully, and engage in advocacy without fear of being minimized or tokenized.
“I was abandoned by my mother at four years old and spent my childhood in 86 foster homes. I endured abuse, neglect, and more trauma than most people could imagine. I stopped trusting people because everyone seemed to leave, and after years of being passed around, I felt invisible.
Then my great-grandmother gave me something nobody else had: stability. She stayed.
Now imagine surviving all of that and then finding people just like you people who know what it’s like to be unheard, forgotten, and overlooked. People who want to give you a voice and a platform to advocate for children going through the same struggles, so fewer kids have to endure what you did.
That’s not just a job or a mission. That’s purpose.”
