Opening the Door to the Future, Closing the Door to the Past

Do you see this tall slab of wood? It began as nothing more than an ordinary door. But it was transformed over a weekend into a vehicle for dreams.

The front of this door was decorated by young people in and from the Ohio foster care system with their hopes and dreams.

The theme for Ohio's second annual Independent Living Summit, hosted by OACCA, was: "Opening the Door to the Future."

Next month, during the FCAA Thanksgiving event, the theme will be: "Closing the Door to the Past."

The back of this door will be decorated by young people in and from foster care with symbols of things from our past which, as we move forward, we are going to leave behind.

For some people, this might be anger or bitterness. Others might try to save their biological family at the expense of themselves.

Sometimes we who have experienced foster care feel we are unworthy of love, because we weren't loved as children. We might remember negative predictions that other people have made about the future outcome of our lives, and foolishly measure ourselves based on other people's shortsighted estimations.

These are the kind of things we want to leave behind as we continue to move forward. And, we want to support one another and move forward together.

Many thanks goes to Home Depot to donating this door to the Ohio chapter of Foster Care Alumni of America.