Street Team member, Ashley Johnston, sent in this WONDERFUL letter, written by her fiance, Michael. Michael was raised in the foster care system. He wants people to know how Jimmy has inspired him and what his cause really means to those who have been in the exact situation Jimmy is fighting to improve.
"Through the Eyes of Someone Who’s Aged Out
Many people have said that youths in the foster system are bad children, and many people say that Jimmy Wayne is wasting his time and putting his career on hold for nothing. Well I am going to share my story which is very much like others who are in the system and have been in the system, and why Jimmy & Project MMH means so much to me.
At the age of about 13 my life I felt was going downhill. I was being physically abused by my father and almost everyone of his girlfriends. I had also been sexually abused by five different men on more than one occasion, and one woman. I felt like I had no one to talk to and nowhere to go. What did I do? I did what many troubled and depressed teen would do, I tried to kill myself. The school and the state then decided to intervene, and I was removed from my home after disclosing the events that had happened throughout my childhood.
Once removed, I was placed into state care, where I was placed in 8 different homes and went through 6 different high schools. So you could only imagine the thought going through a child’s head at that age and moving into all of these different situations. Now before I continue, let me first explain that the majority of the children in the system are not bad, they are troubled and may do bad things but only because they are trying to deal and or cope with a lot of emotions and things they are going through.
With that said, some things I encountered were staff that were only there to collect a paycheck, and were not there to help teach and guide you. There were some, but not many. Sometimes the staff would physically and verbally abuse you, put you down and call you names. Other residents would and sometimes did the same; I can’t count the number of times I had to fight while I was there. I did not fight because I wanted to; I did it because I had to. When you’re in the group home it is almost like jail , where you must fight to stay on top and survive. If you don’t fight they will run all over you. We did not have a childhood that you might call normal. We went to school, sometimes if we didn’t skip. We came home and sat around the house. About 1 time a week we would be able to go to the mall or movies.
A lot of us were alone and felt like we had no one to turn to, so some of us turned to gangs, and selling drugs; Anything to feel like we belong or had some sort of family. We ran away a lot, and ran the streets. I did not do these things because I was a bad child I did this because no one cared enough to teach and guide me and I wanted, no, I needed someone to show me a way, any way. I attended therapy for awhile some helped and some didn’t. A lot of that was thrown out the window though because I had so many people in my life, staff, kids, family, and teachers tell me that I would be a nobody, I would never amount to anything.
During my stay at many of the group homes I came across one staff/mentor that genuinely cared enough to show me that the world can be cruel but to keep my head held high and let anyone discourage me. He was the one who got me out of gangs and fighting and selling drugs. He was the one who got me to go to school regularly. If it were not for him, I would not be the man I am today and I would be in jail or dead, who knows. And until this day I still call him uncle mark, because he was the only family I had. Because of him, I made honor roll my last 2 years in school and I graduated.
At the age of 18, the system had said it was time for me to go. I had reached the point where I was old enough to age out. I had no money, a minimal amount of clothing and nowhere to go. I asked them “Where will I go? What will I do?” They had no answer. So I left. I was homeless for about a year and a half, to two years. I slept in the snow, the rain, behind an abandoned house, because when I broke in to sleep there thinking it would be warmer in the house, it wasn’t. I slept on public buses, on benches, anywhere I could. My first two weeks homeless I didn’t sleep or eat and was hallucinating and had lost almost 57lb’s, I was rushed to the hospital. Then came a day where I ran into an old friend who let me move in with them. From there my life took off.
I soon joined the military, although I am not any longer and shortly thereafter I met my fiancée Ashley, and we have two beautiful girls. Maleah is 3 and Mylee is 2. I am currently a butcher and have been for almost four years. We have a wonderful home and I have all that I need; my life back and a family that loves me unconditionally, without reservation. Keep in mind this is just my life story in short. I have not told you everything, because it would take too long and there are things I have blacked out and choose not to discuss.
There are many reasons Jimmy Wayne and Project MMH are so important to me. Not only is he taking time out of his life and career to bring attention to and try and change a problem that is real and growing in the U.S. But, he is trying to help people realize and understand, so that other kids in the future may not have to go through the things that Jimmy and I did. He is trying to be the positive influence, all those kids need. He is trying to get everyone of you reading this to get up off the couch and do something about it, and get involved. Help him, Help us! Help put an end to youth homelessness. So to everyone who thinks he is wasting his time and wasting his career, it is people like him who give the child in me and the kids in the system now, HOPE…
Yours Truly,
Michal Beaufort
Prattville, AL"
Thank you for sharing your story with us, Michael!
