Average Age of Independence
Yesterday I mentioned that 1200 young people are aging out of care in TN each year and that Monroe Harding works hard to make them ready for this transition. Don’t read ahead, take a minute to guess - what is the average age of independence in the United States? I know if you see a number your eyes will skip right to it, so take a second to actually guess. Do you think its 18, maybe its 16. How about 21 or 22. 23 and 24 are right after college and you’ve had time to get a job, right? Well in reality, the average age of independence in the US is 26. Does that sound about right to you? Don’t you know some 30 year olds that are just finally making it on their own? And, of course, some 22 year olds who can do it all? That’s how we get an average.
What can we expect of an 18 year old?
There should still be high expectations of 18 year olds. Many are out there fighting for our freedom, many are raising families, going to school, living alone. We should expect them to respect their elders, talk politely (especially in public), be courteous, accept that others are different than them. We should expect them to still be learning, but they should still be learning. For all the 18 year olds out there, remember that you don’t know everything, be willing to learn. And for all the 40 year olds out there, really the same is true. But also remember to give others a little room for failure and be sure to be there for them when they do fail.
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1200 Youth Age out each year
There are approximately 1,200 youth in Tennessee who “age out” of the foster care system each year. Last year, in the middle Tennessee regions alone a total of 763 children age 17 were in foster care. Can you imagine life completely on your own at age 18?
What do you still need at age 18?
If you’re older than 18, think back. If you’re younger, just imagine…If you got a flat tire, who did you call? Did you know how to sort the whites from reds before it was too late? Did you know what it would really cost you to charge something on a credit card and pay for it 6 months later? Did you shop for your first car? Did you do it by yourself? Did you sleep in a bed in your parents house, in a dorm room, or on your friend’s couch?
A support system
Some kids in state custody have a great support system. Some have foster parents who stick with them once they’re emancipated. Some have aunts, uncles, grandparents, older siblings and even parents who help them out. But many are expected to truly be independent. They, like any other 18, 19, 20, 21 or even 22 year old (or 30, 40 or 50 year old) need a support system. They still need someone to call in an emergency or someone to teach them how to apply for student aid. Its a great thing for this city, and state, that Monroe Harding can help young people during this transitional time. If you don’t already know about Youth Connections, visit their website. There is a lost group of young people out there who still need caring people in their lives.
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As we get this blog thing rolling, I thought you might be at least a little bit interested in who is writing this. Well, I’m Melissa Houck, the Director of Fund Development here at Monroe Harding. From my title, you can probably guess that this blog might end up having a fund raising slant to it. I hope as a general rule that it doesn’t. Of course yes, you will hear all about our great events - what they are, when they’re coming up, how to register and then how they went.
What’s Included
Besides fund raising activities, you should find a lot more here. I plan to include stories about many of our youth. Not only our residents, but also those involved with Youth Connections after they age out of custody and even those in the Project SHARE program and the collaborative effort with other agencies.
You’ll hear about what is going on with our property and our building plans. I’ll post some facts and figures concerning the demographics that we work with. You’ll learn more about foster care and what’s happening in TN concerning young people. We’ll have guest bloggers including some youth, our CEO, other staff members and volunteers.
Some days, you might just find we want to talk about the weather or the traffic. But regardless of what we might want to write about, you can redirect us. Let us know what you want to see.
Have a great week.
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Starting a Blog
Officially this whole website is set up as a blog and we can easily post new information to each section at anytime. But it is used more as a simple website, so we thought we’d add a section that was officially for more traditional blogging.
New World Needs Your Help
The title of this post is “The New World of Blogging.” This world is not so new to millions of people. It is, however new to us. So, we may not be great at it. We may forget to do it occasionally or we may write about things no-one cares to read. I imagine this is how many blogs truly work though, so hopefully ours will not be too disappointing. You can write your comments here also. They will of course be reviewed before they go live! But please suggest things you’d like to hear about, or just let us know your thoughts about what has been written.
Check in often to keep us accountable for this! We hope you enjoy it and learn about Monroe Harding through this blog.
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