Real Stories: Learn about Kansas youth becoming independent by reading stories about older youth that have been in foster care, faced challenges, and used resources to move on their path towards success and independence.

A Mom's Perspective - A mom's struggles to get clean and keep her children.

New! Accept Help to Turn Around my Life - A boy's story about his involvement with juvenile justice and his change, working toward his future.

Barely Knew My Parents - A youth, struggling with parental substance abuse, becomes a role model for younger siblings.

Better for My Baby - A girl's decision to get clean and keep away from jail for her baby.

Caring for Ourselves - A youth's story on how his family's life was impacted by his mother's crack abuse and how she got clean.

Choosing to be Different - A story about inner strength in the midst of abuse and abadonment due to parental addiction.

Dealing Drugs - A story of transformation: how a man got clean and provides for his family, after using and selling drugs from an early age.

New! Graduate From College to be Independent - Development of strengths and talents in the midst of parental substance abuse, abandonment, and loneliness.

Growing Up Around Drugs - The detrimental consequences of substance abuse and domestic violence on children.

Growing up Fast - A girl's story of endurance and transformation: becoming stronger in the midst of violence and substance abuse.

Hoping for the Future - Staying away from the wrong crowd and finding a support group to overcome violence and substance use.

New! Keep Pushing Yourself - A girl's recount of her transformation, pushing herself in college to provide a better future to her child.

New! Learning From Decisions - A story on how making wrong decisions can bring you down and how planning and thinking about your own goals can help you stand up.

Learning From Mistakes - A girl reflects on how her behavior (e.g. agression, alcohol and substance use) hurt herself and her deceased mother.

Moving Around - A boy's recount of the unresolved personal impact of his father’s imprisonment and his mother’s substance abuse.

Nobody to Rely On - A girl's story of resistance and transformation through parental addiction, rape, and substance abuse.

New! Planning My Life - A woman recounts her story of resistance and endurance as she shares what helped her succeed through college, employment, and relationships.

Taking a Different Path - A girl's story of determination and independence in spite of poverty, violence, and parental substance abuse.

The Oldest Child - A youth's story on how parental substance abuse impacted their lives and how independent living helped them in their recovery.

They Saw Me as a Druggie - A girl gets clean and plans a different future, after using and experiencing the negative consequences of parental substance abuse.