My name is Evelin. I am a 17-year-old female born in New York. Both of my parents were immigrants born in El Salvador. I learned early on to keep things to myself because that was the way of my family.
    I have been in foster care since the age of 12 because of abuse. Moving from placement to placement I allowed myself to be Americanized. I didn't have anyone to stand there and help me hold on to the only thing that I had - my family's culture. I started losing respect for my culture and the way that I was brought up.
    I have experienced many positive and negative things through this long journey. Every new placement I went to was a new challenge. I had to make new friends and adapt to new people. It was so complicated because I didn't know who was there for me and who was not. Once I started getting used to my surroundings and my placement, I had to move once again. I started losing trust because I was moved around so much.
    I have been in 14 placements in five years, due to several challenges. I started acting rebellious and that is when I was placed in juvenile detention. I bounced around from place to place.
    Then I moved to a group home where they didn't give up on me. I finally decided to change when some extreme life changing consequences caught up with me from my past. The staff from my placement encouraged me to be independent, outspoken, and embrace my culture. They helped make me the person that I am becoming. They helped me develop a healthy relationship with my family.
    I was fortunate though because I was not one of those kids who had a different caseworker every month. I had my caseworker for almost five years. She always was there for me even though I tried to push her away from me because I didn't want to get attached and then end up getting hurt. I started allowing myself to trust and be open with her when I saw she was here to help me. She always fought for me and she always stood by my side. She helped me reconnect with my family.
    My mother and I started building a relationship. At last, I had that maternal love that I always yearned for. We had many arguments revolving around my father. I thought that my father was too strict and that he didn't want me doing normal teenage stuff. After some time, my father and I started bonding. We are still working on our relationship, so it can become healthier. I learned that all my father was trying to do was get us motivated to get the education that he never had.
    I got involved with Raise Me Up, which I think is very helpful and important to us as foster children. We are sharing our stories and our experiences in the hopes of making a difference. We are trying to make it better for the next child that comes into the system after us. We are also trying to raise awareness in our communities.
    I am a survivor, and I can overcome anything that comes my way because I have people I consider family, who have raised there hand and said they would help.