Can you imagine?

After being taken from your family and everything you love, you find yourself locked on the first floor of a million-dollar house on Tampa Bay with 11 other boys.  The next morning, the phone rings loudly and one of the boys scurries to answer the foster mother’s wake up call. Everyone quickly jumps out of bed, but no one dares to utter a word. A little while later, your new foster “mom” descends down the stairs with a pot of tasteless oatmeal.  She plops a scoop in a bowl for you and hands you a cup of tap water.  One scoop of oatmeal for breakfast, a pack of Ramen for lunch, and pasta for dinner.  That's the menu and the routine every single day.

Days turn into weeks. Weeks turn into months.  And months turn into years.  Years of misery, depression, and hopelessness.  The rules are endless and it seems she’s always looking for a reason to punish you.  No playing outside. No going upstairs where her family lives.  No cell phones.  No friends. No after-school activities.  No. No. No.  That’s all you hear.

What you CAN do is rub her feet for snacks or soda.  Take five minute showers.  Do endless weeding in the yard and manual labor for her neighbors.  You can fix up her rental houses.  You can rub his back and lay with him in bed.  You can take the meds you never needed before you moved in with her.  You can share one bathroom with 11 boys.  You can count every square of toilet paper, being careful not to use up the roll before the month is up.  It’s easy to keep track because she writes the date on it. 

She bribes you before court hearings to say exactly what she wants.  She rehearses every word over and over, so you don’t forget what to tell the judge.  She makes you tell everyone that you don’t want to see your family even though that’s all you really want.  She almost convinces you that your mom really doesn’t love or want you.  Almost. 

At first, you confide in your therapist, but he tells her everything you say. You try to tell your case worker, but she’s already heard all the bad things you’ve done and why you’re being punished.  You told the judge, but she didn’t do anything to save you either. . .

Can you imagine what this life has been like for the 300 boys who have passed through this Clearwater, Florida foster home over the last 30 years?  The nine boys who were living in the home have been removed and the home is under investigation for child abuse BUT the boys need their COMMUNITY and beyond to DEMAND:

1. PERMANENT CLOSURE of the foster home
2. ACCOUNTABILITY for the foster parents
3. Intensive THERAPY and SUPPORT for them to process the abuse and coercion they endured
4. RECONNECT them with their families
5. ACCOUNTABILITY for the foster care system and its providers

How you can help:

1. Sign this petition
2. Follow and be ready to ACT:                                                unlocktheboys.org  FB:@unlocktheboys
3. Call or email Florida Department of Children and Families Secretary Shevaun Harris at shevaun.harris@myflfamilies.com (850) 487-1111. Option 5, Option 5 for the switchboard operator

*Narrative written based on conversations with adults who lived in the home as teens.