“Aging out is..hmm..to be honest, I really didn’t even know I aged out. It was because of the simple fact that I didn’t know anything about it–I didn’t know anything about my case, I didn’t go to court. I got to the age where I realized I didn’t have anymore court dates. I just put it in my mind that I was out of the system. There wasn’t really a transition for me because I was already used to living the way I lived. It was more like I already didn’t have anybody, so it was just the same scenario once I aged out. Why was I caught up in the system? That’s really my main thing, I still don’t understand.”

In 2016, more young people aged out of foster care in North Carolina than in the previous 15 years. In Wake County alone, 30–40 age out each year. Furthermore, Wake County experienced a spike in the number of children entering foster care in 2017. The services of The Hope Center are needed now more than ever before, and since 2013, we have increased the number of young people we serve from 30 to approximately 180.

The Hope Center provides support in the areas of housing, employment, life skills, education, mental and physical health, financial management, and establishing a support network, so that young people such as this young man quoted above don’t feel like they are alone in the world.