Although we have never met, please know that I pray for you and think about you everyday. More importantly, I am striving to help you by writing my book and asking people to keep all foster care kids a priority, despite the bad economy.

You may be wondering why I love foster care children so much. In short, it is simply God's will. I do, however, want to share a portion of my life journey with you so that you can fully understand why I know that God has called me to help you.

When I worked at the U.S. Attorney's office in Newark, New Jersey, I was involved in a lot of volunteer work in the community. As such, I was asked to work as a mentor to a teenage girl who had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Evidently, she was in state custody and there was no indication that she had a mom or dad. She was a very sweet girl and I loved talking to her. Unfortunately, I never met her face-to-face because I was not a family member; therefore, I was not allowed to visit her in person. Nevertheless, the young lady and I spoke on the phone almost everyday and we became very close. Also, my co-workers and I donated blankets, clothes and other items to my mentee. Eventually, she moved to North Carolina to live with her aunt and we haven't spoken since then. I will, however, always remember and pray for her because she was the start of my foster care journey.

A few years later, I moved to San Antonio, Texas, and there was a foster care group home down the street from me. My family and I became close with all of the kids. In fact, one of the kids played on our basketball team, and I still mentor one of the boys to this day.

Another foster care experience began at my sons' school, The San Antonio Academy, when the Ugandan Children's Choir, which is comprised of orphans, sang at the school. I fell in love with a little boy named, Joseph. I tried to adopt him; however, I was told I had to move to Uganda and live there a while in order to bring him back to the United States. Unfortunately, I was unable to relocate to Uganda at that time; however, we corresponded via letters and phone calls. Also, in an effort to help the kids from the orphanage, my sons, Charles and Aaron, galvanized the students from the San Antonio Academy and started a collection of clothes and sundries to send to the Uganda orphanage where Joseph lived.

At the time, I was working at the U.S. Attorney's office in the Western District of Texas and I told my friend, Demetrius Bivens, about Joseph, and my sons' efforts to send donations to the Ugandan Orphanage. You will never believe it. Demetrius told me he was on his way to Uganda. And guess what? He volunteered to hand-deliver the donations.

I do not believe in coincidences. Indeed, I truly believe that God has put all of us here for a very distinct purpose. The key to life is to figure out your purpose for being here. It was at that moment that I figured out my purpose...to help foster care kids.

Well it didn't stop there. A few months later, I was working on a community outreach program with the Martin Luther King School in San Antonio, Texas. While waiting to meet the Principal, I met a ten-year old girl who had been sent to the Principal's office for acting up in class. To make a long story short, I starting mentoring her on a regular basis. Shortly thereafter, she was placed in a foster care home. Out of all the foster care kids that I have worked with, she had the greatest impact on my life. I believe she had been abused; however, for privacy reasons it was never confirmed. Tragically, when she was about twelve years old she tried to commit suicide. She too was sent to a psychiatric facility where I visited her for almost a year before her release. What surprised and shocked me the most was the number of foster care kids at the facility who had tried to commit suicide and had serious emotional problems.

A few years later my mentee told me she had a baby and was pregnant with another child. It was the last time that I spoke to her, and I vividly remember congratulating her for being a mom. She responded that I was the only person who told her to be proud. Sadly, several months later she was brutally murdered and it broke my heart.

Currently, I mentor foster care students at Walt Whitman High School and the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda, Maryland.

This is my true story and this is why I know for sure that I have been called to help my foster care friends. So please be assured that God, Angels, and a lot of people like me are trying to help you.

In closing, I promise you that for the rest of my life I will continue to mentor, advocate and write books to raise money for my foster care friends all over the world.

Love,

Mother Mouton