IM: WHUSDJ
CURRENT SHOW
Take 'em Back Radio
For my most recent audio documentary that I aired on my show last week, I took on the difficult subject of foster care. This is an issue that affects roughly half a million children in the U.S., and yet has not been exhausted by the media to the extreme that some other youth conflicts have (i.e. teen pregnancy – just watch MTV…)
My former coworker and frequent guest on my radio show, Eric Miller, 20, has been a foster child since the age of six. Up through the time when he began college, Eric has lived with several foster families for various durations of time, a couple group homes, and one adoptive family that he lived with for five years. Last month, I interviewed Eric about his life as a foster kid to air on my radio show. Eric’s tale begins with his home life with his biological parents in southern Pennsylvania and the abuse and neglect he endured as a child. From there, the documentary chronicles his life in and out of various foster homes in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, and the effects it had on his growing up; he was held back twice in elementary school because of the constant moving and some parents’ desires to have him home schooled, one of the many consequences he had to face being put in foster care.
Despite the scattered nature of Eric’s upbringing, he is able to find stability in his faith, as he has enjoyed going to church all his life and considers himself to be a very religious person. Eric’s strong faith has helped him to overcome all the negative feelings that come with being a foster child and not having one permanent family that he can always turn to whenever he needs. Although he moved from family to family often while growing up, he firmly believed that there was something better out there, and his social worker has also been very supportive of him his entire life. Eric believes that with a strong support system that foster care can be affective, and thinks that growing up with this experience has made him a more open-minded person as an adult who is capable of doing anything.
If you happened to miss last week’s show, you can download the interview with Eric here.
I will also be re-airing Eric's Story, as well as my documentary about Tennessee, on a special edition of Fiat Flux next Saturday, December 25, from 1-3pm. That day is Christmas my birthday, so the show will be a lot of fun!!