Life After Foster Care

Every year, thousands of teens in foster care turn 18 and officially “age out” of the system. Many of these teens have spent their entire childhood bouncing from home to home. At age 18 and with little or no parental guidance they are basically left to fend for themselves. The state of Florida does offer a small stipend to help with the bills, but even that can sometimes be too little too late. Without direction many of these teens forego college and choose dead end jobs that only set them further behind.

In southern Sarasota, nearly one in four former foster kids are homeless. In St. Augustine, fewer than one in 10 foster children age 17 are performing at grade level. And in Miami, Tampa and Daytona Beach, fewer than one in four 17-year-old foster kids passed Florida's high-stakes standardized assessment test.

Over 800 kids will age out of foster care in the state of Florida this year alone. This transition can be very difficult and for many teens almost impossible. With that in mind, Reaching Tampa has created a ministry with the sole intention of making that next step a little bit easier. The focus of this ministry is to pair kids in foster care that are “aging out” with Christian families willing to rent them a room for 6 months to a year. Our prayer is that through stable environments and loving couples these kids will enroll in college, find good jobs and possibly even a relationship with Jesus Christ.   

The cost of the rent would be covered by a small government stipend, but please be assured this is not an enormous amount of money. The goal of this ministry is not to make a profit but to make an impact in the life of a young adult starting their lives by themselves.

Please take some time to pray about this ministry and ask the Lord if He is leading you and your family to help out. If you have questions or think you would be interested in renting a room to a teen aging out of foster care please email shale@reachingtampa.org. Ideal candidates would be empty nesters, retirees, or couples with children in college.