Jocelyn was raised in a chaotic and tumultuous household: her father was an alcoholic and her mother was a drug addict. When she wasn’t being downright ignored or neglected, she found herself caught in the middle of physical altercations between her parents. By the time Jocelyn was in high school, she had had enough. [...]

Emily grew up in a single-parent household. As the only daughter, she desperately sought affection and attention from her mother, who she looked up to. Sadly, this was not a reality for Emily: instead of receiving unconditional love and support, she was the victim of physical and mental abuse her entire life. One day, [...]

When Adriana was 2 years old, her mother passed away and her father was nowhere to be found. She was placed in foster care and spent the first 10 years of her life there, the victim of constant abuse and neglect. Eventually, she was removed from the home by the Department of Child Safety [...]

“Finding out I was pregnant was one of the hardest and scariest days I would ever experience. I was only seventeen and facing something most teenagers haven’t even thought about. When I told my parents I was pregnant, they told me to get out. I ended up living with my boyfriend and his family. [...]

“My parents were both involved in drugs and alcohol. My father would take his anger out on me – hitting me, calling me names, telling me I was worthless. My mother took off with some guy and left me. I was tired, hurting physically and mentally most of the time and had no one [...]

“At age 15, I was severely beaten by my step-father, a drug addict, who was put in prison. When he got out of prison a year later, my mother took him back. He continued to beat me and sexually abuse me while my mother watched and did nothing. The Department of Child Safety removed [...]

“Youth On Their Own has greatly helped me through the stipends I have been able to earn because of my good grades. I am so grateful for the stipend – which I use to buy clothes, shoes, and food – because I work part-time, but do not make enough money to survive. Staying in [...]

Mark was a dynamic and charismatic young man who attended school on the Tohono O’odham reservation in Sells, Arizona. As a young child, he lived with his mom who moved around a lot and was unable to provide a safe and stable home. Mark eventually moved to Arizona to live with his dad at [...]

By age 14, Gabriel has lost both parents to drug overdoses, leaving him and his 10-year-old sister alone. The Department of Child Safety placed them in a loving and kind foster family. Gabriel and his sister were so afraid that they would be moved to another place or someday split up. Gabriel started to [...]

“I was lonely and got involved with a boy who I thought loved me. I ended up getting pregnant, and my boyfriend ran out as fast as he could. So at 16 I was alone, pregnant, and without any family to help me. My parents were never in my life – they split up [...]