Central Texas Table of Grace is a non-profit organization helping displaced children

About

Our Team

From the Founder Board Members Staff Leadership Join The Team Our Sponsors

Our Mission

Mission Vision Accolades D&I Statement

News

In The News Media Kit Social Media
Programs

Emergency Shelter

Our Facility

Grace365

Apartments Second Saturdays
Ways To Help

Donate

One Time Donation Monthly Donations Planned Giving Donate Stocks

Support

Amazon Wishlist Donate Items Amazon Smile

Engage With Us

Speaking Engagements Volunteering Nominations/Media
Contact
Connect With Us Subscribe To Newsletter
Events
Evening Under the Stars (05/13)
DONATESUBSCRIBE
  • About
    • Our Team
      • From the Founder​
      • Board Members
      • Staff Leadership
      • Join The Team
      • Our Sponsors
    • Our Mission
      • Mission
      • Accolades
      • D & I statement
    • News
      • In the News
      • Media Kit
      • Social Media
  • Programs
    • Emergency Shelter
    • Grace365
      • Apartments
  • Ways to Help
    • Donate
      • One Time Donation
      • Monthly Donations
      • Planned Giving
      • Donate Stocks
    • Support
      • Amazon Wishlist
      • Donate Items
      • Amazon Smile
    • Engage With Us
      • Speaking Engagements
      • Volunteering
      • Nominations/Media
  • Contact
    • Connect With Us
    • Subscribe
  • Events
    • Evening Under the Stars

A Message from our Founder​

Stacy Johnson

 

My name is Stacy Johnson and I was a “Foster kid.” I try to refrain from the use of that label, because it has such a negative connotation. The first thing people say when I share that detail of my past is, “You turned out great for being a foster kid!” Wow. I wish we could just get rid of the label altogether.

I was bounced from home to home from the time I went into the system at the age of 2 until I turned 13 and asked my social worker if I could be placed in a group home. I knew that if I went into a staff-run facility, I would be able to stay there as long as I followed the rules and did what I was told. In my experience in foster homes, it was just too easy to get re-placed if the foster family had a life event that affected their ability to care for extra children. I just didn’t want to get shipped off again. My social worker warned me that the group home would be a little bit like jail. My response to that was, “but if I do my chores and follow the rules, I can just stay there, right?”

I arrived at the group home and was a little shell-shocked because, yes, there were a lot of rules, we were required to attend mandatory therapy sessions daily, we had little or no contact with the outside world, and I was living with girls that had been through things that I thought only existed in nightmares and scary movies. I had made it a personal goal of mine to get Legally Emancipated by the age of 15 (freed from the custody and control of the state, essentially being declared an adult by the court.) I knew that I could take care of myself better than I had been taken care of in the system. I expressed this to the group home therapist and he believed in me. They even hired extra staff so I could stay in the home during the day doing independent study for high school and work at night. (I got a job as a CNA at a nursing home in the area.) So…. I didn’t achieve my goal of emancipation at 15. But I did it at 16.

I attribute the achievement of my first major life goal to a few defining moments. The first was meeting that group home therapist who believed in me and taught me so much. The second piece of the success puzzle was a gift I received in the form of a book, called “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens” given to me by the same therapist. I learned valuable lessons from this book that I would never have gotten anywhere else. I also had many supporters, including the Soroptimists who awarded me with a substantial donation to help with expenses associated with moving into my own apartment. Achieving a monumental goal despite all odds, gave so much back to me that I had lost in the shuffle from home to home. Always an outsider and never cared for properly, I lost my self-worth. But someone believed in me, then I believed in me, and I achieved what I had set out to do. I found myself, my strength and my happy place.

I want to help create more stories like mine and prevent the all-too-common story and stereotype of “The Foster Kid.” Together we can!

Facebook Linkedin Instagram Youtube
HomeContact

Copyright 2023 - Central Texas Table of Grace All Rights Reserved. Privacy PolicyTerms of Use

Developed By: Modleski Web Design, LLC and David Gusis