Lorraine Hayward spent 17 years in New York's foster care system.

With 17 years in the foster care system, Lorraine Hayward experienced twenty placements. She has bounced around from kinship care to foster homes to diagnostic settings, group homes, more foster homes and permanent homes. Finally, Lorraine was placed with a family who truly loved her and was adopted from foster care at the age of 21. On the verge of becoming homeless herself, Lorraine believes in reducing homelessness after foster care. She was able to share her experiences with her Congressional member as a participant in the 2016 Congressional Foster Youth Shadow Program.

Recently, Lorraine attained her Certified Nursing Assistant training and is a student at Suffolk County Community College working towards a liberal arts degree. Living on her own, Lorraine works to support herself and to achieve her goals of getting a driver's license and buying a car.

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