Crystal's Story

Years ago my Mother told me something that sparked my interest in child care. She informed that as children move through the foster system, from house to house, they lose their personal belongings. Usually these children have no place to store their things, such as a suitcase. They lose all childhood photos and toys, and even clothing; many times they are left only with the clothes on their backs. Crystal Martinez is an 18 year old who has lost most of her belongings. She was neglected and abused by her biological family and was taken in by the Texas Child Protective Services at age seven. Three years ago, in 2009, she was sent to the San Antonio residential treatment center.
When she completed her treatment six months later, she went to go claim her belongings from the State, that had taken them in plastic bags when she was seven years old. It was then when she realized that most of what they had taken had been lost. Luckily, Crystal found help in a woman named Mary Christine Reed, who helped her track down two boxes (half-full) of her personal belongings, which was a far cry from what she had given them. There are 30, 000 children in the system and this scenario is very common. However, these children are not as fortunate as Crystal, and often times never see their mementos. Hopefully, more people will see these types of stories and do something about it. A solution to this problem would be to provide suitcases and/or storage bins to foster children. At the time when my Mother informed me of this problem we planned to create a foundation to do just that, it did not happen. I still hope to one day create some kind of program to help children in the system with these types of problems.

Courtesy of the New York Times

Artem's Story

Artem is a, now eight-year old, boy from Siberia who was adopted by Tory-Ann Hansen in 2009. Hansen is a single mother and nurse who lives in Arizona. The Russia orphanage, where he was located, was impressed by her affection toward Artem and were quite confident that he was in good hands. That was until the seven-year old arrived back in Russia with a letter from Hansen saying "I no longer wish to parent this child" and asking for the adoption to be annulled. Hansen claims that Artem was "violent" and "mentally unstable." However, he claims that while living with Hansen he was abused and even reenacted incidents where Hansen pulled him by his hair. Sadly, Artem is not unfamiliar with neglect. He was born to a teenaged mother whose parental rights were taken due to her alcoholism. Russian authorities claim that Hansen's reports are false and that young Artem is merely "stubborn."  Due to the media uproar, the Russian foreign minister has demanded a freeze on all adoptions between Russia and the United States. I'm disgusted by this entire incident. Regardless of her inability to control him, she had absolutely no right to send him off like stray dog for which she no longer had need. I don't even want to think about what could have happened to him during his two layovers (Tennessee and Washington DC). I find it impossible to see 34-year old Hansen as the victim in this situation. Artem, who was slowly adjusting to his environment, has now been stripped of his friends and taken back to a Russian orphanage. This child is a prime example of the many children who are abused and neglected by their adoptive or foster parents. With this website I wish to tell the stories of the many Artems around the world.






Courtesy of Daily Mail