The Storyboard Project, founded by Mira Zimet in 2014, is a short documentary web series created to lift up stories of youth who have experienced foster care. The project is based in Los Angeles, but this past year, Zimet, along with her husband, purchased an Airstream trailer, hitched it to a truck and went on the road — with Zimet meeting and interviewing youth along the way.
The Imprint will be featuring these videos throughout the month of December. Today, we feature the story of Emilio from Las Vegas, Nevada.
“Moving across those 20 plus homes, of course, meant I went to just about every school here in Vegas. Not only do you have to continuously make new friends, continuously find your place, but think about this: Do you really think a child is focused on U.S. history or geometry or any of that stuff when they’re trying to figure out where their next home is or when their next meal is, or where their families at?” – Emilio, Nevada
Emilio shares his two entries into the foster care system, early years that mixed kinship and foster home placements, then an adoption by a relative that turned abusive, and finally his return to care as a teen. Finding a way to trust set off a huge learning curve for Emilio, but he found a mentor and got involved in foster care advocacy — including working for an organization in Las Vegas called Foster Kinship. He is now in bootcamp with the Marines, with the intent of becoming the best person he can be.
“On the Road” is sponsored by Journey to Success.
Stay tuned for more great profiles of youth from Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon and Tennessee.