Clara's Story
This made me feel like I had someone close to me that I could count on
“Teachers have always been safe to me, school was a safe place even after I was removed from my violent home. One English teacher made me feel particularly special when she noticed I really liked to read. Like school, reading was also an escape from the normal horrors of everyday life.
We started a regular routine, I don’t know how it started, but I would stay after class and tell her about the last book she let me borrow and then I would get the next one in the series. Vampire teen fiction books mostly, since I loved Twilight.
Most, if not all of the books felt brand new. I always returned them to her and she always managed to have the next one in the series waiting for me. I don’t know for certain, but I feel like she bought them herself, maybe for kids like me. Or maybe even just for me.
I was far away from my family at this point and this made me feel like I had someone close to me that I could count on”
- Clara, a young person with experience in foster care (all names changed to protect privacy).