The Dress

For youth experiencing foster care, prom is a night to be normal.

Ask any teenage girl looking forward to prom the reasons for her excitement, and finding “the dress” is usually pretty high on the list.

Picking out a prom dress is one of the significant milestones in the life of a teenage girl. Hours of planning go into the perfect look. If you are lucky, you will find a dress the first place you seek. However, some girls go from store to store to store in search of “the one.”

Prom is a special night where teens get to dress up, dance, and have fun together. More than just a school formal, the hype has been built up over the years as a magical night of teenage bliss. For youth experiencing foster care, prom is a night to be normal.

Sydney, like others her age, joins in this enthusiasm. It doesn’t matter that at one time she lived in foster care. She is now back home and preparing to go to prom. Months away from the day of the big dance, Sydney has found the dress. With excitement, she calls Emily, her mentor who was with her during much of her foster care journey.

Although they now live states away from one another, Sydney wants to share the big reveal with Emily over FaceTime. Sydney wants Emily to be a part of this moment, because she knows that Emily will always be there for her.

If you talk with mentor Emily, she will tell you about the dress, but she will also brag on Sydney. She knows how Sydney has persevered through difficult times. She knows the significance of Sydney’s developing stability and life goals. She talks with pride about the young woman Sydney is.

Everyone needs someone to call or FaceTime during the best of times and the worst of times.

Being a mentor for a youth in foster care is being there for both. To a teenager, prom is a big deal, but the lasting impact of adolescence is in always having an adult there who cares. Someone to call. Just ask Sydney.

*All names have been changed to protect privacy. The stories are real.