Mark’s Story
Mark is a full time student at Cal State University Fullerton, majoring in psychology with a minor in art. He has a calm, quiet confidence, big dreams for his career, and he spends his free time giving back to the community. Upon meeting him, you would never guess that just six months ago he was basically homeless.
Trouble began for Mark and his seven siblings when he was young. His mother was battling a mental illness and the family also experienced abuse from the stepfather. Mark’s mother began to struggle with paranoia and moved the family around, which caused the children to switch schools frequently. Mark went to a different school every year. Despite this, he loved school, and always kept up his grades. “School was my escape,” Mark explains, “it has always been the place where I could get away from all the bad things happening at home.”
Eventually, Mark’s mom was deemed unfit to take care of her children. The youngest five siblings went to live with his stepdad, and Mark and his older sister were placed in foster care. When Mark graduated from high school, he entered community college. Without a support system, or much preparation to live on his own, he spent two years couch surfing or sleeping in his car, partying, and falling behind in school. When his GPA dropped below a 2.0, Mark knew he had to make a change.
Mark was familiar with Orangewood Foundation from having attended Independent Living Program workshops while he was in foster care. When he decided to get back on track, he turned to Orangewood for help. With Orangewood’s guidance and financial support, Mark brought up his grades, and transferred from community college to Cal State Fullerton. In April of this year, he was accepted into our Rising Tide housing program, and moved into an apartment. Since then, he has been working with a Rising Tide staff member on increasing his savings, and he has saved almost $7,000 in six months! He plans to apply this money to graduate school. When he graduates with his Bachelor’s degree in psychology in the spring of 2017, he will be the first person in his family to graduate from college.
Mark has also shifted his focus in life to giving back. This summer, he studied abroad and volunteered in Guatemala, teaching English to 4th-6th graders, leading art workshops, and teaching basic writing skills to a group of indigenous elders. He joined the Peer Mentor program at Orangewood so that he could serve as a role model and a support system for his peers who are still in foster care. He wants to go to graduate school to study clinical art therapy, with the hopes of one day becoming an art therapist for abused children.
“Orangewood to me is like a family,” Mark says. “They are the real home I never had. My life before Orangewood was dark, and full of sadness. Now I have lightness, happiness, a supportive foundation, and most of all, hope.”