Former PACE student tells story of living in foster care

Jasmine Sampson is speaking out against the broken system to get attention for the documentary "Foster Shock."

By Emily Blackwood
| 8:15 p.m. October 25, 2016

Ormond Beach Observer
Neighbors

In just a little over two years, Jasmine Sampson lived in five different foster homes, each one worse than the one before.

"I went from having a normal life to living with all these strangers and not feeling welcome," she said. "You can't just go home and open your fridge."

Sampson — a former Ormond Beach resident and PACE Center for Girls student — entered into the system after her grandparents died when she was 15 years old. Now 18, Sampson recently had to re-enter the system when she found herself six months pregnant and nowhere to live. Her and her 1-week-old baby girl, Legacy, are currently living in a maternity home in St. Augustine.

Sampson is telling her story in hopes of gaining awareness to help fix the current state of the foster care system, which is the basis of the documentary, "Foster Shock." The film will be playing at 1 p.m. Oct. 27 at the Port Orange Regional Library-Auditorium, 1005 City Center.