DENTON, Texas — With summer’s arrival, high school graduates are looking forward to college in the fall. It’s hard enough getting there with the support of a family, but imagine not having that.
If you are a former foster child and headed to the University of North Texas (UNT), there’s a family waiting for you.
"I feel when you turn 18 it's easy to forget about those foster kids, you think oh they're 18 years old. They're an adult now. You don't need to support them anymore," said Anastasia Price.
Price says nothing could be further from the truth. She can tell you first-hand that young adults who age out of the system need all the support they can get. Price was 6 years old when she entered the foster care system.
“By the time I was 16, I had been through more than 30 placements from group homes to foster homes to residential treatment centers. I've been through it all," she said.
Price and her college classmate Ryan McLendon both spent time in foster care and opened up about their painful pasts.
“We all come from very different backgrounds but the one thing we kind of all got was struggling to trust and struggling to know exactly what it means to take care of ourselves," said McLendon.
The two met at UNT through a unique program called PUSH, which stands for Persevere Until Success Happens.
“We're here in college because we're trying to create a narrative that's different than the narrative that was placed on us. We’ve both been through something awful and we’re both trying to make our lives better however we can,” said McLendon.
PUSH helped McLendon and Price with resources at UNT and in the community.
"We can be our worst enemy and having a program like PUSH and people who see that in you that you can't see in yourself can take you very far if you just latch on to that," said Price.
If you're a former foster child who attends UNT, the PUSH program provides a network of support from academics and financials to help you with information you never got from a parent.
“Car insurance. I've never done that. An apartment search? I've never done that, and I don't have adults in my life that can help me with it," said McLendon.
He added “The point of PUSH is hey let’s create a community. Let’s create resources. I am not going to push you to be a version of yourself that other people might have. I am going to meet you where you’re at and encourage you to be the best version of yourself that you want to be.”
The mission is simple: if you're in PUSH, you will find a family on campus to help you soar like eagles in the sky.
“There are tons of former foster youth that all they need is a program like PUSH to help them get to the finish line," said Price.
She and McLendon are now proud Class of 2024 UNT graduates who persevered until success happened. Price thanks God for that.
"Even when I felt hopeless, I felt like there was someone who saw something in me and looked out for me and spoke life into me and kept pushing me in the right direction," she said through tears and a smile.
For more information about this unique program, email PUSH@UNT.edu.