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Housing

How to Build Housing for People Aging Out of Foster Care

Former foster youth are at extremely high risk of homelessness and incarceration. These housing complexes are designed to help them transition to adulthood.

The HAY Center Campus, in Houston, will mix apartment units with space for classrooms and services aimed at young people transitioning from foster care. 

The HAY Center Campus, in Houston, will mix apartment units with space for classrooms and services aimed at young people transitioning from foster care. 

Rendering: Courtesy HAY Center 

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Ricky Holder heard the “black bag” story when he was shuttled through multiple foster homes in southern California between the ages of 9 and 18. 

“The story goes that when you come home from your high school graduation, your stuff will be in black garbage bags on the front porch of your foster family’s house,” says Holder, now 30 and studying public policy at the University of Chicago. Many people he knew ended up homeless after aging out of foster care — a fate he avoided by joining the Navy, enrolling in community college and ultimately earning a Marshall Scholarship.