“That family was in it for the money. They didn’t care if I went to school. They wouldn’t give me a ride. They refused to buy me the things that I needed like underwear. They were in it for themselves,” Brooks says.
Jaded by the revolving door of new people, new schools, new friends and neighborhoods, Brooks hoped that her new home would be better. She desperately wanted to make it work; failure to do so could equate to a lonely existence come her 18th birthday when she would be left responsible for herself.
In the fall of 2001, while getting settled into in new foster home, Brooks had a serious conversation with her new caregiver Peelers-Brown. “I know that this is hard, but we’re going to work it out,” said Peelers-Brown.
And work it out they did. By Brooks’ senior year in high school, Peelers-Brown was helping Brooks navigate her way through the seemingly endless stack of financial aid forms, college applications and scholarship information.
Four years later, the pair celebrated Brooks’ college graduation together.
Last month, Brooks graduated with honors, with a degree in criminal justice studies. Brooks is planning to use her education to advocate for better juvenile and foster care in California. Currently, she mentors her younger foster brother, helping him make the right choices for his future.
Brooks is also planning to go law school. “I know that I will have to fight to have our voices heard,” Brooks says.
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