Experiencing three placements including a group home and two foster homes, Rae Toussaint spent nine years in foster care before aging out. She describes her time in care as being forced to live two separate lives. In one life, Rae put up a facade of a "normal" teenager to classmates, friends and outsiders. The other life, the real life, was having Administration for Children's Services (ACS) monitor her every move, attending meetings, caseworker visits and living in strangers' homes. Unable to find a balance between the two lives, Rae is driven to help her foster care peers and believes youth who age out of care need permanence and appropriate housing.
Currently, Rae is a student at The City University of New York (CUNY) Medgar Evers College and is actively involved in leadership programs such as The Possibility Project, New Yorkers for Children Youth Advisory Board (YAB), and NYC Administration for Children's Services Youth Leadership Council. A dedicated individual, Rae has many goals and dreams including establishing a career at Northwell Health or Apple, meeting Dr. Oz and Angelina Jolie, and becoming an actress. With a friendly demeanor, humor and a big smile, Ray believes that no matter what she goes through, she will always keep going.
