it’s funny the moments we remember... the little bits and pieces of life that stick in our minds eye. i was at the back of my 1st grade classroom working on an art project when a policeman appeared in the doorway. as he spoke to my teacher the room became silent. 35 boisterous 1st graders suddenly still as all eyes watched her lead him to me. my teacher said i needed to go with him and he took me by the hand and lead me out of school to his waiting police cruiser. i saw my sisters and brother in the backseat. as i climbed in i could tell my sisters had been crying... because there were no foster homes available to take in a sibling group of 4, we were taken to a children’s detention center where they separated us by age, then boys on one side of the complex, girls on the other. min the span of an hour i went from my 1st grade classroom to a building that looked like a prison, separated from everyone and everything i knew, and i had no idea why. this was the beginning of my entry into the foster care system.... ——- may is foster care awareness month and i’ll be posting more of my story throughout the month because my story isn’t unlike the stories of the more than 440,000 children and youth currently in the foster care system. 440,000 children between the ages of newborn to 18... ——- #Repost @itsmarymontoya It’s been an honor, it’s finally here. - @get_repost ・・・ tomorrow, Tuesday, May 7th @8PM FOSTER premieres on @HBO ——- “Drawing on unprecedented access, FOSTER explores the often-misunderstood world of foster care through compelling stories from the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, the largest county child welfare agency in the country. Mixing firsthand accounts of people navigating the system with insights from social workers, advocates and others, the film offers a realistic but hopeful perspective on a community that needs society’s support.” -Foster #fosterdoc @hbo (at Beaverton, Oregon) https://www.instagram.com/p/BxIreueDf_K/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=c11acj0366el