Friends - Los Angeles: Miranda's Journey of Empowerment and Family Transformation

Miranda is a leader in Friends of the Children - Los Angeles’ Parent Advisory Council and has been with Friends - LA since the beginning as one of the first caregivers to enroll their family into the program. As a former foster youth, Miranda intimately knows the challenges that exist within the L.A. County child welfare system and promised to protect her child from these obstacles when she found out that she was pregnant.

As a young mom and a Transitional Aged Youth (TAY), Miranda faced an uphill battle during her journey as a parent. Sadly, most mothers with her background are statistically at higher risk for contact with, and separation through, the child welfare system. In the face of these odds, Miranda knew she wanted break the cycle of foster-care involvement for her firstborn. She enrolled her daughter Allie in Friends - LA's program upon being referred by their partners at St. Anne's Family Services and has since become a strong supporter of their work.

Miranda really values the mentorship her daughter's Friend provides, as well as the extra support she and her daughter receive through Friends - LA's two generation, or 2Gen, empowerment model. During the time Friends - LA has spent with Miranda's family, they have seen her flourish as a mom and as a leader; they have seen Allie mature into a brilliant 10-year-old; they have paired Allie's brother Danny with a Friend of his own; and lastly, they were honored to be invited to celebrate the birth of the most recent family member, Eli.

At Friends of the Children, we know that all it takes is the power of one to spark generational change. In Miranda's case, her decision to seek out social support so that she could see her children thrive in life achieved two outcomes: 1) her children having their very own dedicated, long-term positive role model to look to for healthy behaviors and relationship-building and 2) much-needed trust, understanding, and capacity-building thanks to the web of support that we helped weaved her family unit into.