FAAZ Advisory Board member Sam Garman was chosen as the first nominee for our new Day in the Life blog series. Sam’s challenge; limit his daily shower to only 10 minutes (a common rule experienced by youth in group care)!

Ten minutes is shorter than expected. Two of the days I got distracted and blew right by my timer, but mostly I kept my shower under ten minutes. Nothing about rushing through a shower under a time limit is relaxing.”

To advocate for more “normalcy” while in foster care, each month the Young Adult Leadership Board will nominate one member of our Advisory Board to take part in a chosen “normalcy” challenge. Each challenge has been experienced by members of the FAAZ Young Adult Leadership Board and something they feel needs improvement.

“I tend to do my best thinking in the shower and often process some problem from work or something happening in my family, so this was a really tough challenge for me. The more time I spend with young adults in care and hear their stories, I realize how little autonomy they are often given. The days that my alarm went off before I was out of the shower, I was so frustrated with having to quickly finish. The experience of having something so fundamental regulated was eye opening.”

When asked how Sam will take what he learned from this experience and advocate for youth he responded, “One way to support normalcy in foster care is for foster homes to provide young people with more autonomy in their choices and decision making. I will also continue to advocate and encourage people to become foster parents and take the training on Reasonable and Prudent Parent decision making.”

The saying “Home is where the heart is” rings particularly true for Opportunity Passport™ participant Daisy as her heart has been set on getting her first apartment. As an overnight Certified Nursing Assistant and a Bank Teller at Bank of America, Daisy has been busy saving for her very own place! Referred to Opportunity Passport™ through the Department of Economic Security, Daisy attended her first class and loved it!

Budgeting and saving is not easy, especially without having proper guidance. Opportunity Passport™ helped me a lot and provided the financial skills and knowledge I needed to manage my money!” For Daisy, moving into her first apartment was a huge milestone towards independence!

I used my hard earned money, along with Opportunity Passport’s™ dollar for dollar savings match, to pay for first month’s rent on my apartment. The program has given me a home I feel safe and comfortable in. I feel like I made it.”

Want to meet other youth like Daisy? Click here to meet Stefani who used her savings to purchase a car through the support of Opportunity Passport™! You too can support young people aging out of foster care by sponsoring a youth!