Ashley Marie Rhodes-Coulter is an emerging advocate for children in foster care, even though she almost didn't emerge.
On Tuesday, Rhodes-Coulter, a senior wise beyond her years, brought her woeful litany of neglect to the Joshua House's annual child abuse awareness luncheon at the Marriott Waterside. It was by no means her debut. She has made a name nationally, with appearances on Montel Williams and with speaking engagements for National CASA and the American Humane Association.
Her personal experiences truly resonate. She recalls little from her childhood but tries to re-create memories by going through 30 boxes of files, an estimated 84,000 documents, compiled during her time in foster care. Some things she doesn't want to remember.
One pair of foster parents denied her food, forced her to swallow hot sauce and dragged her around by the hair, she said. Another had her watching sadomasochistic pornography. Several foster parents ended up with criminal records involving drugs, domestic violence, child abuse or sexual abuse.
Rhodes-Coulter said she went through 14 placements before adoption at age 12 by Gay and Phil Courter of Crystal River.
She counted, in her files, 52 case workers, 45 child welfare administrators, 29 attorneys and legal aides, 27 psychologists, 19 foster parents and three judges, a guardian ad-litem and five guardian staff. Of those, she credits just one with truly helping her: the guardian ad-litem.
More remarkable than her sad tale was the courage she displayed in telling it, and the dispassionate delivery that is surely a shell to insulate her from the hurt. Rhodes-Coulter didn't plead for people to feel sad for her, she challenged them to do something for others still in foster care.
"We're young people who have no one to turn to but you," she said.
"The village concept is nice, but not if it's an excuse to forgo your responsibility to a child that crosses your path."
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IN THE WAKE of the capture of the Sunset Park pig, I've decided to shelve the many humorous puns I came up with during the ordeal - although I love the idea of changing the neighborhood's name to Sunset Pork.
Truth be told, this is a fairly sad story of a pig who was woefully out of place and probably as miserable as the yard owners who saw their property routinely ripped up by the porker. I'm hardly an animal advocate, but I felt bad for the little guy.
All he probably wanted was to wallow around in the mud and be fed by a generous farmer. But I suspect someone thought he would make a good urban pet and when they apparently erred, they just let him go fend for himself.
Overall, there are too many misguided pet decisions out there, which brings me to No More Homeless Pets, a coalition of local animal welfare advocates.
The group hopes to end euthanasia of healthy, adoptable pets and will sponsor a spring adoption expo Saturday at the Florida State Fairgrounds from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. All kinds of cats and dogs will be available. Admission is $3 per person. Leashed pets welcome.
If you know you can provide a good home, check it out.
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I'VE BEEN a consistent rider of the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway. But after a sinkhole on Tuesday caused a collapse on the elevated portion under construction, I'm a little fearful.
If it were a simple construction mishap, I could attribute the accident to a correctable human error. But the unpredictable nature of a sinkhole has created, well, a sinking feeling. Yeah, a sinkhole could hit any road anywhere, but I'm not paying a $1.25 to get swallowed up ... or worse.
