Rising Above: NicFelix Navigates the Road to Independence
Children who grow up in foster care often face intense challenges at a young age. And by the time they reach adulthood, accomplishing goals and making it on their own can feel nearly impossible. That’s why programs like LifeSet are so important for young adults aging out of state care. LifeSet is the bridge to successful adulthood and helps youth who experienced foster care enter the “real world” independently and successfully.
NicFelix entered the foster care system at a young age and longed for a permanent place to call home.
“No one wanted to keep me; I felt temporary,” NicFelix said. “I just wanted to stay in one place and have a stable home.”
Although he was in foster care, NicFelix stayed in touch with his family. But within a few years, NicFelix’s mother, father and sister had all passed away.
As a young adult on the cusp of aging out of state care and with no family to rely on, NicFelix carried a heavy burden. He didn’t have the skills, tools or resources he needed to become an independent, successful adult. He had no idea how to navigate the ins and outs of adulthood like how to find an apartment, how to apply for a job and maintain employment, how to build and follow a budget or how to start the process of applying to college.
NicFelix found LifeSet and worked with his LifeSet specialist, Nemesis, to identify a list of goals he wanted to achieve, including finding stable housing, creating and maintaining a budget and learning the skills he needed to live on his own. NicFelix and Nemesis worked together to put him on the path toward reaching those goals.
While working with LifeSet, NicFelix got his own apartment, found a job, enrolled in college and in a job training program. NicFelix also learned how to create and stick to a budget and became interested in the stock market, spending almost all of his free time learning everything possible about trading stocks.
NicFelix is so smart, and he can do anything he sets his mind to. His drive definitely comes from his struggles and when he gets something in his head, he’s going to do it, no matter how hard it is or how long it takes.
NicFelix is majoring in accounting at his college.
“I want to become an accountant and help people like me get out of poverty,” he said. “Once you’re in that situation, it’s so hard to get out of it but there IS a way. You just have to work hard. I want to be there for people and help show them that.”
LifeSet helped NicFelix navigate the road to successful and independent adulthood.
“I am so grateful to LifeSet for helping me with the things no one else was there to help me with,” he said. “I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today if I didn’t have Youth Villages.”
And Nemesis is so proud of him.
“When you have a young adult like NicFelix, he makes me value the things that I have,” she said. “He’s an inspiration to me and when he achieves even the smallest goal that he has, no feeling compares to that.”
Share on Social