THE NITTY GRITTY
Debbie entered the foster care system her senior year of high school. She was living in an alcoholic, abusive home and realized with the help of her school counselor that she needed to leave.

Debbie had the courage to let the authorities know what was happening in her home. She stayed with her sister for a few days then lived in the Boys Town shelter with her brother for two weeks; all of this right before Christmas.

Debbie’s brother, who is two years younger than Debbie, was a wrestler. The high school wrestling coach and his wife had been foster parents before and took Debbie and her brother to live in their home. Debbie stayed in the home, but her brother ran away six months later and ended up in a residential treatment center, then in a group foster home in western Nebraska.

Debbie has four siblings: a sister who is ten years older, a sister who is two years older, and another brother who is eight years older. She also has two older stepsisters.

Today, Debbie’s calls home the home of her foster parents. She considers them her family and spends holidays with them. She no longer calls them her "foster parents," just "parents."

ACHIEVEMENTS
When you ask Debbie what she thinks her biggest achievement has been, she says, "Marrying my husband. It’s easy to get caught up in relationships that mirror the ones you grow up with, and I didn’t. We’ve been married three years and have been together seven years.

Debbie graduated from college with a degree in psychology. The degree was hard won for her: it took seven years to get it, and she paid for most of it herself.
Debbie also worked as a caseworker for one year and before that as an assistant youth development and living coordinator. For two years before that, Debbie managed group homes and shelters, working with abused and neglected children in Arizona.

CURRENT WORK
Another of Debbie’s achievements is what she is doing now: as a program director for the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation, she is creating a network of youth advisory councils in Nebraska.

Debbie has been building the project from the ground up. "I walked into an empty office and started from the bottom. I didn’t even have a desk! I’ve been working to get youth interested in the councils; it’s tough because the state is so spread out. But Nebraska really needs this—it ranks third for the most children in care per capita, right after New York and California."

Once the councils are formed, each council will provide input into program and policy issues for youth in care, specifically for independent living programs. The plan is to have in the network 75 youth. Debbie is also planning conferences for the youth and possibly a sibling camp. In addition, she sees the councils as personal growth opportunities for the youth members, and is planning different activities to help create this.

Debbie loves her work. "I enjoy the direct work. That’s why I like my job so much now. I get to interact with the youth and I don’t have to ‘fix’ the parents."

PLANS FOR FUTURE
Debbie and her husband would like to have children someday; biological and foster, and they are planning to buy a house.

Debbie sees herself continuing to work with children. Eventually she would like to organize college support groups for young people who grew up in care.

INSPIRATION
"I think I’ve had different inspiration at different times and for different things in my life. My husband, for example, inspires me to want to be the best person I can be. My boss inspires me. One of my former bosses also inspires me. She’s a woman of her word, and I want to be the same. I want to tell someone to trust me and be able to follow through."

"My foster mother is also an inspiration. She has shown me what a good mother is, and that will be invaluable when I have my own children. My foster family has also shown me what a healthy family is like."

ADVICE TO YOUTH TRANSITIONING INTO ADULTHOOD
"Try to identify a support person—someone you can turn to—and really utilize them. Believe it or not, they do want you to call."

"Shoot for your dreams. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. There were times in my life someone told me I couldn’t do something, and I believed them. Looking back now, I shouldn’t have believed them.

FAVORITE BOOKS
A Child Called It. By Dave Pelzer. "It really is an inspirational book. His ability to forgive his mother and father is amazing."