FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Each year, thousands of young people in Florida age out of foster care when they turn 18 — often with no permanent home, no financial support and no clear path forward.

A South Florida organization is working to change that.

For Sandra Guzman, a 21-year-old mother of two, the fear of aging out began long before her birthday.

“When I was 17 in foster care, they started talking about aging out, what that looks like, and for me, I was very nervous. I didn’t know what I was going to do after 18,” she said.

Guzman’s life had already been marked by instability.

“At the age of 15, I was kicked out of my mother’s house. So from that point on, I was actually in a couple of shelters in New York,” she said. “From 15 to 17, I was hopping around couches.”

She eventually moved to Miami to live with an uncle, but the situation quickly deteriorated.

“Very early on, I’d say like maybe even two weeks into being there, my uncle started making really inappropriate advances at me and it made me super uncomfortable,” she said.

With help from her children’s father and a coworker, Guzman left and found her way to the FLITE Center, a nonprofit that supports young adults in similar situations to Guzman.

“The FLITE Center was formed in 2009 to serve as a one-stop resource center for youth who are aging out of the foster care system and other youth who are survivors of trauma,” said CEO Kristina DaSilva.

Guzman says the support changed her life.

“I actually tell everybody that the FLITE feels like home,” she said.

“Oftentimes it’s just the cold reality of when kids turn 18, the foster parents many, many times abandon the young people,” added DaSilva. “And so FLITE Center is here to do all the work that we can to lend that helping hand.”

For Guzman, that help meant housing, food assistance and guidance.

“When I first came into FLITE, their most important thing was housing that they were helping me with. I wasn’t working, but at the time they helped me get food stamps and sign up and do that process. They helped me do my extended foster care process,” she said.

Guzman is now studying culinary arts at Atlantic Technical College, hoping to combine her love of cooking with her desire to help others.

She still participates in FLITE Center activities.

“They have great cooking classes, which I love, where they bring a professional chef in,” she said. “Even on a rainy day, I’ll come. My kids will play back there. You’re always welcome here.”

FLITE Center provides services to more than 2,000 young adults each year, including housing assistance, job readiness, mental health support and a college boost program to help participants earn GEDs.

For families who know someone who may need help, referrals can be made through the FLITE Center website by clicking here.

Local 10 viewers can also click here to read more stories in our “Mom to Mom” collection.

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