Discover TRUE-North Initiative

 This photo of my mother and me stands as a testament to resilience—and the long, painful work of rebuilding a relationship once lost.

I entered the foster care system at just nine years old, after a childhood filled with abuse, abandonment, and instability. Over the next eight years, I moved from home to home, never completing a single school year in the same place. At seventeen, I was released from the system—not into independence, but into a fragile and unsupported reunification with the mother I barely knew. With no therapy, transition plan, or emotional support, that placement quickly failed. Within six months, I was on the streets, carrying the invisible scars of trauma and desperately trying to survive a life I had never been prepared for.

Those years were dark. I became a young mother, endured domestic violence, and battled addiction—all while searching for a sense of belonging. And yet, through it all, I held onto a quiet belief that my suffering had a purpose. That one day, I could become the lifeline I once needed.

That belief became T.R.U.E. North Initiative—a mission to Teach, Restore, Unify, and Empower foster youth as they age out of the system and step into adulthood.
We teach critical life skills and coping tools.
We restore hope by breaking the cycles of trauma and abandonment.
We unify youth with a support circle they can always count on.
And we empower them to walk boldly toward their future with confidence and purpose.

This is more than my story.
It’s why T.R.U.E. North exists:
To be the bridge I never had.
To make sure no foster youth ever has to navigate life alone..

NO MATTER WHAT.