I Fight!

[Michael Guinn works at CitySquare as a life coach to youth who age out of the Texas foster care system.  He is extremely effective at what he does.  What follows reveals just what's behind his fierce dedication to his work and to the young people he touches.]


I Fight!
                                                                                                                                                   
Do you know what it’s like to want and can’t have? To be so hungry that you eat dirt so you don’t feel  so…empty!  Do you know what it’s like to not have running water, to do homework by candlelight. To steal and lie and hustle to help out your family?

I do.                                                                            

And some nights skinny then reminds bigger now of the times when he brought home food found at the landfill, fished for compliments and crawdads, sold squirrel and black birds to pay for school clothes.                                                  

And yesterday I wondered! What good is my master’s degree if I can’t even master me?

See I fight …for the father who desperately wants to provide. But in shame he cries in the shadows of his own pride.                                                                                                                   

I fight… for the mother who stands in welfare lines, wanting more, defined by less knowing that this is not her best.

I fight.. . for the son whose hunger pangs are so loud that he can’t focus on his lesson so he sits embarrassed by his stomach’s angry confession.

I fight…for the daughter wearing hand me down smiles and borrowed blues forced to wear too tight shoes.

I fight ...for grandparents on fixed incomes feeding mama’s children when baby’s daddy runs.

I fight, I live and I learn to shape dreams from the fist of poverty’s grip as I fuse the light in their eyes with mine and pray to God to help them find hope inside.                  

And this ain’t easy! It is hard to lift self-esteem when dreams have been assaulted  and peppered  with despair so much so that they’ve forgotten to breathe freedom’s air.

And it’s not their fault that they were born verbs in past tense, unwilling subjects in sentences that kept on running. Fractured by the manner in which the wind whistled and blew down their future, I fight because I don’t want their existence to be another statistic on the back page of history.  I don’t want their lives to end up camouflaged chalk lines, lost in the shaded silhouette of a lonely bulls-eye searching for another target!

I didn’t choose this fight, this fight chose me. And I want my example to foster a deep desire for survival no matter how loudly suicide speaks of rivers. Because I believe that if they see my love and feel my soul reaching out to them that this simple act of kindness will change their lives forever.

And now that I’ve made peace with this section 8 hate, now that I’ve overcome the demons of then... I know that every time I find a new resource, service, home I am reconnecting the dots of frowns and turning them into smiles. People ask why do I fight poverty with so much energy and passion? And I tell them it’s because I know that I am still fighting for that little boy inside of me!

Michael Guinn

TRAC PSH Coach at CitySquare

May 17^th 2016

My Own Bed: Like a good neighbor!

A HUGE thank you to our partners at My Own Bed!

When someone ages out of the foster care system, they often have very few things and have to start anew. My Own Bed helps by providing beds for our TRAC youth who have moved into their own apartments. Today, two of our TRAC youth received beds and bedding!

You can help provide beds too. Simply make a donation at CitySquare.org, select "other" and type in "My Own Bed"!

Gloria Campos Luncheon Celebration to benefit CitySquare's TRAC!

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Youth who "age out"

For over a decade now, CitySquare's Transition Resource Action Center (TRAC) has served and worked alongside thousands of young people who "age out" of the foster care system in a 19-county Child Protective Services region in northeast Texas.  TRAC's mission is to assist these special youth as they take the next necessary steps on the way to living as productive, confident adults.  This part of our work is very challenging because of what these young people have been through before we meet them.  National statistics inform us that many end up on the streets or in prison.  Hard, important, challenging work is accomplished by our TRAC team.

From time to time our program leaders receive personal feedback from the folks with whom they work.  Here's a report I received recently from a TRAC worker:

Subject: Smiles on a busy afternoon

I just got off the phone with Jimmy. 

Jimmy was a TRAC youth several years ago.  I met him a few times but know him mostly from reading the notes from Liz, his coach. 

Jimmy called to ask my permission to use TRAC in his autobiography, which he is currently writing.  I told him that he had the right to say whatever about us he wanted… and that I appreciated him asking. 

He shared that he wanted people to know how much we had helped him.  Jimmy said, “My parents were not able to help me… but TRAC taught me everything I needed to be ready.  I didn’t appreciate it at the time but I held on to what you guys told me for years to come.  TRAC is what got me through college.” 

I asked Jimmy how he was doing…he lives in Denton, was adopted as adult by a former foster family and is 14 hours away from a Bachelor’s degree in Public Policy and Government Affairs.  

Jimmy is a success thanks to YOU.  Though you probably don’t know him…and may not have worked with him…you help youth like him every day. 

Funny thing:  he often fell off the radar, didn’t return calls and seemed disinterested.  He was fickle when he was a TRAC youth and might have been one that we assume wasn’t benefitting from the help. 

He tells a different story. 

You all have success stories out there…they just don’t call in and tell us.  He was stunned that I remembered who he was…that I remembered who his coach was…many of our youth assume that we forget about them and move on. 

But they are out there…they are making it…and it is because of the work YOU do.  Thank you.  On behalf of Jimmy and youth just like him, thank you!  

Help CitySquare's work with youth who "age out" of substitute care!

Learn about youth "aging out" of foster care

Who Will Cry For Me?

(The poem below was written by Dishundra Thomas, one of the young people with whom we work after aging out of the foster care system in Texas.  The average child has experienced 8 different foster care placements prior to arriving at our one-stop-shop on Live Oak here in Dallas.  CitySquare works with youth in the 19-county, Child Protective Services NE Texas Region, over 800 young people annually.  I think you'll find her words to be very moving.)

Who Will Cry For Me?

Who will cry for the battered little girl inside me?

Who will cry for the painful memories others can't see?

Who will cry for the girl that continued to yell,

The girl everyone thought was doing so well?

Who will wipe the tears that run down my face?

Who will take those memories that I can't erase?

Who will cry for the little girl with no love?

Who will cry for the girl delicate as a dove?

Who will cry for me when I can't cry for myself?

Who will I turn to when I have no one else?

Can anyone see the hurt in me?

Are lives that perfect people are too blind to see?

Who will cry for the little girl torn and abused?

Who will cry for the little girl neglected and misused?

Who will cry for the little girl afraid to give her heart?

Who will cry for that same girl when her heart is torn apart?

Who will cry for hte little girl that has lost everything?

Family, friends, and maybe even her dreams?

Who will cry for the little girl who is dying inside?

Who will cry for the little girl in which I hide?

Who will cry for hte little girl who missed out on childhood?

Who will cry for the little girl that's had no good?

Will anyone cry for me?  Must I continue to cry for myself?

Who will cry for me when I have no one else?

TRAC--touching, healing, providing hope to young adults!

One of CitySquare's "signature" initiatives involves our work at the Transition Resource Action Center (TRAC).  This one-stop shop of services, training and opportunity focuses all its attention on youth who "age out" of the custodial care system (otherwise known as the foster care system) in the state of Texas.  What follows is a report on this important part of our work in the city and region. 

TRAC works with these special youth in the 19-county, CPS Northeast Texas region that includes Montague, Wise, Denton, Collin, Tarrant, Dallas, Rockwall, Kaufman, and Navarro counties.
Facts about this population:

25% experience Homelessness before age 22

Within 12-18 months of leaving care. . .
-33% will be on some form of public assistance
-40% will not have completed high school
-50% will be unemployed

Within 18 months of leaving care. . . 
-60% of young ladies will have a child outside of marriage
-70% of youth leaving foster care report a desire to attend college
-Less than 3% actually obtain a college degree

In Texas, the average youth emancipating from CPS. . .
-Was removed from their family at age 11-15
-Had 8 placements
- Had 5 CPS workers
-Spent 5 years in care

TRAC helps young adults by providing             
             Preparation for “Adult Living” Classes
             Money Management
             “Ready to Rent”
             College Visits
             Employment Soft Skills
             Workforce Services
             Skill building
             Assessment
             Resume help
             Education advocacy
             Job referral & coaching
             Job skills training
             Job placement with partner businesses
             Housing Services and Homeless Prevention
             Emergency Assistance
             Emergency Shelter
             Transitional Housing
             Permanent Supportive Housing

Major funding sources for TRAC

• Texas Child Protective Services

• Texas Workforce Commission

• HUD

• United Way, Foundations, and Individuals

For more insight and information click here!  And take a moment to watch the video that follows.