Project overview
Youth who are adopted or in foster care need resources to help them lead productive lives. We support Settlement Home’s programming in Central Texas which provides a continuum of care for young people. This includes residential treatment services, therapeutic group homes, a foster and adoption program, and transitional living for girls ages 7-21 who are working through emotional issues.
Settlement Home helped me find my voice. And they helped me learn that it wasn’t my fault.
Victoria, former foster youth
How it helps
Demand for these services is high. Settlement Home averages 60 admissions each year at its residential treatment center, yet it received 1,722 referrals for placement in 2021 alone.
All children should have a safe, structured, caring environment for their well-being. Settlement Home provides the resources and life skills that young people, especially vulnerable girls, need to live healthy, productive lives.
Settlement Home is the only facility in Central Texas that accepts long-term placements for girls of ages 7 to 21 as they navigate their emotional needs. The organization provides food, shelter, clothing, education, and medical services in a home-like living environment. After treatment at Settlement Home, 70 percent of girls move to less restrictive settings.
Meet Victoria
Victoria is a working student, runner, artist, and survivor. She is majoring in social work with the hopes of one day helping children who struggle with some of the same issues she wrestled with as a foster youth. Today, she is the picture of strength, determination, and resilience. But if you were to meet Victoria six months ago, she says, you would not recognize her.
Victoria grew up in an unstable home surrounded by mental illness, substance abuse, and unsafe situations. She entered foster care twice, first at a young age and later as a teenager. Victoria blamed herself for her circumstances. She battled depression, anxiety, and substance abuse.
After bouncing between various foster homes, Victoria lived in Settlement Home for nearly three years before aging out of care. At Settlement Home, she was able to build trusting and impactful relationships that set her on a long journey of healing.
When Victoria left Settlement Home at age 19, she continued to face challenges in the outside world similar to those she faced as a child. After hitting a low point in her addiction and homelessness, she decided to take control of her life. She returned to Settlement Home and entered rehab and therapy.
Today, Victoria is more than six months sober and is thriving. Victoria is an inspiration to the people she meets. She is determined to disrupt the cycle of abuse and neglect that she experienced as a young person, and she is well on her way to becoming a successful, happy adult.
