Local painters help Valrico nonprofit working to open its first transitional home for young women
VALRICO, Fla. - The nonprofit, Forgotten Angels, is working to open its first transitional home in Valrico dedicated entirely to young women aging out of foster care, at-risk, or facing homelessness.
Forgotten Angels already operates an on-site housing program for young men.
The nonprofit also already helps many young women find housing. In some cases, the organization pays for their apartments or hotel rooms.
But this new transitional home in Valrico will allow the nonprofit to help young women under one roof.
What they're saying:
"There are so many kids that are aging out of foster care that are at risk and homeless that are on the streets or couch surfing," Cindy Tilley, founder of Forgotten Angels, said. "They just need a safe place to lay their head so that they don't fall into human trafficking, so that they don't make bad choices and end up in jail."
Tilley and her husband, David Tyler, have been painting the inside of the Valrico property themselves.
"It's almost 3,700 sq ft, nine bedrooms, four bathrooms, swimming pool," Tyler, the nonprofit’s executive director, said. "We're going to put in a basketball court, pool table--literally anything that we can do to make life better for them based on where they come from, we're more than willing to do."
The mission is deeply personal for Tilley, who grew up in the foster care system herself and knows firsthand what it is like to crave stability and safety.
But this house is also painted in memory of Takeria Adderly, a young woman the nonprofit helped in the past.
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"(She), unfortunately, was murdered a few years back," Tilley said. "We've always felt like if we'd had a place, you know, maybe she'd still be here."
Dig deeper:
Painting the outside of the nonprofit’s new women’s home was a much bigger lift. That’s when Fresh Coat Painters of Greater Brandon stepped in to help.
On Thursday, the local painting company brought a crew to the property to professionally paint the entire exterior of the house for free.
"We're happy to be a part of this and help out our community and the people in it," Jorge Valdiviezo of Fresh Coat Painters said.
What you can do:
Forgotten Angels is asking the community for donations of new towels, cleaning products and furniture to help get the home ready for its new residents.
For more information, click here.
The organization also works to teach these kids important life skills, including helping them complete their high school education, open a bank account and get a job.
"Most of these kids come to us in survival mode," Tilley said. "When you start seeing them thrive, and you start seeing that light come on, there's nothing better in this world than knowing that you've played a part in that, and that you're literally saving the lives of these kids."
The Source: Information for this story was gathered from interviews with an employee of Fresh Coat Painters and organizers of the nonprofit Forgotten Angels.