Hi. My name is Alisha. Currently, I go to Carleton University. I'm in my third year, studying human rights. I came into care at the age of 10, with my six other siblings. I'm the oldest. Now there are nine of us, actually, but that's a different story.
Basically, I moved into a foster home and I lived with them for eight years, until I was 18. Essentially, it was the same foster home, but I didn't feel a part of that home. Some of my siblings were adopted. There's just one other who wasn't. Essentially, I saw them in a different way. They had this loving family they could turn to, and I didn't have that. I didn't really feel like I belonged in that foster home. I also had a foster sister who was the same age as me, and I felt she was treated differently from me.
I'm currently aging out of the foster system. I turn 21 in August. Right now, I live on my own, and it's really difficult not having someone you can turn to. I don't know who to call when I'm in crisis or something. I turn to my worker, but I won't have her for very long. It's also difficult because I'm separated from my siblings.
As I said, they were adopted, and I'm not able to see them as often. And that's their family; I'm just someone who was their biological sister. It's kind of different. I see them having all these opportunities, and I never got that. They have someone to go home to on holidays.
When I do go back to my old foster home, it's almost like I'm a guest in that home, and I don't know where I belong. There are other foster kids who are now living in my room. It's just difficult. I just don't know where I belong. That's my story.