Alexiana | A Chair-ity Success Story

Alexiana, 18, just finished her junior year of high school. She’s going into her senior year with her own apartment nearby her school & a plan to go to college next. When we arrived with her furniture delivery, she moved her makeshift “bed,” a lone blanket and pillow, from the corner of the bedroom as we assembled her new full-sized bed frame.

“I didn’t even know you guys existed until a week ago,” she said. “I had no idea how I was going to afford all this.”

Alexiana hasn’t had anyone over to her new apartment yet since it didn’t feel finished. With Chair-ity’s help she is feeling more at home than ever, and said she can’t wait to have a housewarming party with her friends. We provided Alexiana with a bed frame and mattress, dresser, nightstand, couch, coffee table, end table, TV stand, and floor lamp. Her apartment, which she had been living in for a week already, went from almost completely empty to full of life within half an hour.

Alexiana lived in 4 different homes during her first year in foster care. She switched schools each time, which made it impossible to make or keep friends for long. Unfortunately, this isn’t uncommon.

More than 85% of children in foster care have had a minimum of 2 different placements within the first year of being in the system.

Her last foster home lasted 3 years. She got involved at her school and joined the cheer team, which she was proudly presenting on her shirt the day of the delivery. She likes being on the team and couldn’t have done that without the long term placement. Now that she has aged out of foster care, she wants to stay in the area to finish school. This is no small feat, considering about 1 in 4 kids who age out of the system will not graduate from high school or be able to pass their GED.

Alexiana wants to go to college to study psychology and hopes to work with other foster children. She thinks she would have a connection with them due to her own experiences.

Getting a college degree would make her part of 3% of aged-out foster youth who go on to do so at any point in their life.

She’s also interested in becoming a foster parent herself down the line. It is clear that Alexiana wants to give back to the community she grew up being a part of, and she says that being in foster care provided her the ability to always see the opportunities in things. We commend you, Alexiana, for how far you have already come with your hard work and positive outlook, and we wish you the best in your future endeavors!