Port Charlotte nonprofit helps foster youth transition to adulthood safely

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (WINK)—A nonprofit in Port Charlotte is battling statistics with a transitional housing program for young adults aging out of foster care.

More than 23,000 children in the U.S. age out of foster care every year. The National Foster Youth Institute says 20% of those kids become instantly homeless.

The team at Southern Cross Campus came to a WINK Listens event and shared their story.

18-year-old Timmy Oswalt has looked for a stable home his entire life. 

"My dad left before I was born. My mother left me when I was 13, and so I've been in the DCF system for just about almost seven, seven years," Oswalt said.

When Oswalt aged out of foster care earlier this year, he was scared to be alone. That changed when he met the team at Southern Cross Campus.

"It's a very, very scary thing, you know, growing up and kind of being on your own," he said.

"Southern Cross Campus is a transitional housing for aging out of foster care," said Anna Cranmer, founder and president of Southern Cross Campus. "We are the only transitional housing in the Port Charlotte area."

Southern Cross has two homes in Port Charlotte, each with three to four young men who aged out of the foster care system. The independent living structure teaches the teens life skills like cooking, cleaning and maintaining a space of their own.

"I was very excited being able to have a place that I can finally be safe at being with people that I can call my family," Oswalt said.

Cranmer is the nonprofit's president. She and her small team don't live in the homes but provide the new adults with resources and check-ins.

"At 17 to 18, it gets to be more of a challenge, because now they're thrusted into this big world to say, figure it out on your own," Cranmer said.

Khamani Goodson wanted to share his story without showing his face. He came to Southern Cross on his 18th birthday, not knowing what to expect.

"A lot of kids just want to feel love, and a lot of people don't feel that in foster homes," Goodson said.

"High school, it was a little rocky towards the end, and like, I lost my spark, I lost all my hope," he said.

Nearly a year later, the high school diploma on Goodson's bedroom shelf sits as a reminder of his accomplishments as a new adult. 

"Coming here, it made me like time to reflect, like, this is stuff I need to do, like it's being given to me, so I might as well use it," Goodson said. "Whenever I need help or anything, I could just reach out. I don't have to, I don't have to feel scared to do anything."

"We may not be able to change the lives of every foster kid out there, but we can change this one, and that one, and that one, and each one that comes to us," said Robin Mudge, marketing director for Southern Cross Campus.

Not too long ago, Oswalt feared for his future. Now he's reaching for it.

"I'd say saving lives is probably one of my biggest dreams," Oswalt said. "There are people out there that care for your well-being, even though they don't know who you are."

Southern Cross tells WINK News they want to build a 15-acre campus with a charter school, therapy services and housing for foster youth younger than 18.