In this powerful episode of Fostering Conversations, host Amy Smith sits down with Sheri, a resilient young woman who aged out of Utah’s foster care system and is now thriving as a leader at Angels Landing Foundation. Sheri shares her deeply personal story from entering foster care at age 12 after bravely reporting abuse, to cycling through 13 foster homes, and ultimately finding healing, empowerment, and purpose.
Listeners will gain insight into:
The emotional reality of sibling separation in care
The challenges of instability and aging out alone
The importance of supportive adults and safe spaces
How Angels Landing Foundation is transforming outcomes for aged-out foster youth
Sheri’s journey highlights the real-world impact of organizations like Angels Landing, which provide community, mental health support, life skills training, and financial empowerment to young adults aged 18–26 transitioning out of care.
Resources Mentioned:
Angels Landing Foundation: angelslandingfoundation.org
Follow Angels Landing on Instagram: @angelslandingfoundation
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America: bbbs.org
Learn About Foster Care in Utah: utahfostercare.org
Episode 62: Aging Out Strong
Amy: Thank you for joining us for Fostering Conversations. I’m your host, Amy Smith. Today we have Sheri who grew up in foster care and aged out of the foster care system. She currently works at Angels Landing, and we’re so excited to have her with us today. Thanks, Sheri.
Amy: You have a really incredible story and I’m sure filled with also a lot of heartache and pain as well. So we wanna be sensitive to that. But would you just start by introducing yourself?
Sheri: Absolutely. [00:01:00] Like you said, my name’s Sheri. I’m 23 years old. Gonna be turning 24 this year and I , work at Angels Landing. I, that’s like the best introduction I think I’ve got.
Amy: I love it. So tell us a little bit what Angel’s Landing is for those who don’t know.
Sheri: So Angels Landing is a nonprofit organization that serves young adults from eighteen to to 26. And our mission statement is Angels Landing builds community centered on empowering young adults transitioning from foster care to achieve self-sufficiency and create a life that they love. And so that is absolutely something that I needed when I aged out of foster care. And it’s been an absolute great opportunity and another resource as someone who doesn’t have tons of resources, and especially that family unit. Having another spot is always something that creates [00:02:00] So much support in my life. And so Angel’s Landing been great and I’m excited to, to dive into what that looks like.
Amy: I love that. So maybe start by telling us a little bit about your story and how you found.
Sheri: I aged into foster care when I was 12 years old. My mom passed away when I was three and a half, and so she passed away in a car accident on Valentine’s Day,
Sheri: so it’s the love day. So I try to always look at it like all the positives, right? But yep. Lost my mom at three and a half years old and. I’ve
got a beautiful, twin sister and another big brother.
He’s about a year and a half older than I am, and then an older sister who’s seven years older. So there’s four of us total. But yeah, so growing up, um, didn’t have a, a mom for, for very long and, um, after she passed away, it was really hard for my dad and I have a hard [00:03:00] time saying my dad, but just ’cause of that, the trauma.
the history in there. Unfortunately, we were left with our dad and he was abusive and in all ways emotionally, but vocally, all the things. As we got older, I, I thankfully had other. People in my life that
weren’t that way. I had my grandma and school teachers
that treated me with love. And I soon began to realize how the way that I was being treated at home was very different from the way that I was being treated in other places. And I really liked the way that I was being treated in other places than at home. And at 12 years old.
I, I made the courageous act of turning my father in. That was a really hard thing.
Sheri: But it needed to happen because it was the life I needed, this life that, that, that love that I always felt [00:04:00] from the outside. And I wanted to live that every day. And so heard of this thing called foster care, and you get a new mom and a new dad, and I was like, man. That is exactly what we need. That is exactly what we need. And we’ll be perfect you guys. I promise.
My brother was really scared. My sister was like super trusting and so early morning, two hours we ended it outside of school. But as soon as That door opened, we went inside the school and we advocated for ourselves at 12 years old and what was going on and some situations that had happened at home.
And thankfully, after about eight hours at school the conversations had ended and the foster care journey had started. And it was hard. That was hard too, but it was much better than what we were dealing with before anything. Give me anything. Foster care’s hard, but it was better. And that’s how it all started for us.
For the beginning of that [00:05:00] entering of foster care and, not starting that big, that journey without a mom and then really not starting that journey, a supportive. Father figure that I could look up to I felt that foster care was our golden ticket, and it truly was in a lot of ways. I am so 100% grateful for foster care and yeah, it took me out of a really dark place at home and it was hard. And yeah, then the journey started.
Amy: That is, I think that’s a really unusual story. I think a lot of kids come into foster care and they’re trying to hide this trauma And abuse that’s going on and they’re not brave enough to go and tell a trusting adult, Hey, this. Is not okay. So I find that really admirable that you and your siblings were able to do that. That’s really amazing.
Amy: yeah. The bio that you sent over before this episode, it showed that you bounced around quite a bit in foster care. Are you [00:06:00] able or willing to touch on, you know what, so you entered foster care and, and it was a relief in some way, but. What were the hard parts of foster care and where were the pains and the struggles in the foster care system?
Sheri: Oh man. See, there’s a polarity of the two, right? Yeah. Where do I begin? Is where my head starts, and I think the beginning of it is, I was eventually separated from my siblings. And, that’s very common in foster care. It’s not something that anybody wants, but unfortunately that’s just sometime is the case. And being separated from my brother, my big brother was one thing, but being separated from my twin sister was. S completely different. She was the person that I walked into the school with to tell the counselor what was going on at home and she was the person I wanted to grow up with, as sisters do. And so eventually we had, I think about. Two foster [00:07:00] homes together about maybe a year and a half, two years until we were separated. And that was a very big heartache and super, super hard. Still something that today in my life and a her life that we are actively trying to create this relationship and.Kind of fix that gap that we got in foster care.
Sheri: Yeah. Being separated for her was, it was like a, it was like a movie. We had our hands like this until we just couldn’t anymore. It was the most dramatic thing you’d ever see,
Sheri: but just definitely shows how much love there is there
and how important family is. And yeah. After that I, I went through a lot of homes. Total. There was 13 foster homes from 12 to 18 years old. The longest that I was placed in a home was about 10 months, so never a full year in any home.That [00:08:00] itself created a lot of instability in my life. And actually before I, as I’ve been. This podcast has been coming up for me. I’ve been digging into my past a little bit and getting back into that little girl who was living in that.And something that, I’ve realized and I’ve learned is I’ve kept a ton of journals. That was, That was my outlet, that was the person that I confided in, was my journal. ’cause there were so many therapists, there were so many foster parents. And so the one person that always stuck with me was my journal. And so I’ve just got
Amy: What a gift to have that now, wow. That’s cool.
Sheri: Yes. And so being able to dive back in that has been such a eye-opening thing. But I’ve got about 10 journals just filled, and I’ve seen just through the process when you open this first journal of this 12-year-old girl, she’s so sweet and she’s excited and innocent and. I hope that I find my mom and dad and just [00:09:00] really have so much faith in that, and that’s something I really have always carried. there’s even still a little something in there still just that love and that faith. But. Throughout the years of foster care from 12 to 18 in those journals, you see this innocence this faith after the many homes to fade away. It’s just a little bit of the hardening. A little bit more of those guards start to come up after each, door of a home. And some homes didn’t work out because for my own preference, it was maybe that family was a very different lifestyle than I could. That would make me genuinely happy. Or, it just didn’twork out on their part too. I’ve had, there was multiple homes that I had that were, they were very young foster parents. One was 27, and then I even had a pair of foster parents that were 23 and being 23 years old now I’m just like. What in the world, where
Amy: Having a teenager. Can you imagine?
Sheri: yes. And so [00:10:00] I, I have so much grace now for it,
Sheri: but it was definitely tough. And so realizing that I needed a very stable and sturdy home and during that time, and it was definitely a rollercoaster for sure. I’d love to touch on my longest placement
For a little bit, if that’s. Okay, so my longest placement was In Salt Lake City and this placement was just after a previous home that I was potentially going to be adopted from. And this woman was 20, I think she was 27. She was the one of the younger ones. She was so amazing. The second I saw her, I was like, wow, she would be the best mom in the world.
Sheri: And I spent four months in her home before I got moved and that, that didn’t work. And like I said, now as an adult, I’m just like, yeah, I totally understand. And she’s sweet. She’s told me you helped me [00:11:00] more than I helped you. And I’m like, man, thank you. And if you’re welcome,
Sheri: she’s a sweetheart and. All grace to it, it’s really lessons that I feel like we can pull from it, like for foster parents listening, like making sure that they’re at a age and they’ve got that experience that they’re really ready to take on that kind of a role.
After this move, I moved up to Salt Lake City, Utah, and coming from St. George and that potential adoptive home was in Manti. So I’ve only ever experienced small town.
Sheri: Thanks. And next thing I know, I’m being moved up to West Valley, Utah in, a very big city and I was just like, whoa.
And I was just had turned 16 out there just , becoming this young woman and I’m, I’ve just gone through all these homes and now I’m in this big city and I’m just like, holy moly. Life is wild. [00:12:00] But just always, still carrying that attitude of, just getting through it and I think a big thing that really got me through it was, of course my sister. Just having that person to want to keep going for and that person to want to be like, how do, sorry, gimme just a second how I explain this. Be a role model for her, because I won’t, wouldn’t want my sister to be sad. I wanna be a good, I wanna be happy, I want, so that, that can be shared and that can be, like, I’ve seen Lots of people around us, that just feel really sorry about their situation and so just doing, I’ve always had that attitude of just doing my best in. And being a light and just being as positive as possible. But after entering Salt Lake and going through about 10 homes at this point and leaving a home, I didn’t get adopted in. I was feeling pretty, [00:13:00] pretty sad. And then being this big city, just feeling like really small, big tall cities,
Amy: very overwhelming. Yeah.
Sheri: And actually when I got moved over to this home, half of my stuff didn’t get moved over,
Sheri: and so when I had been moved over, it was wintertime and up north you get snow down St. George, you don’t even really need to buy a big fur coat, you just need a hoodie and you’re fine. I needed a big code out there and going through homes and having this instability, something I had a hard time in learning was how to advocate for myself.
How to ask for help. And so I didn’t even think about asking my foster mom for a pair of socks and a jacket, and I didn’t have socks and I didn’t have a jacket. So I layered up five long sleeve shirts and I just got as warm as I could and I had my little vans on and I walked to school and I had to walk a while to get to the bus, and the bus would take me to the train.
And then after the train, you walk [00:14:00] to school and. After a few weeks of doing that, this was my first entry into West Valley. And the city was winter. And not having the the basic needs to feel warmth and how to advocate for myself. And I’ll never forget this moment. I love sharing it. And about two weeks of walking in the snow, each step just got more painful. This little cheery, like we can push through. It was just like This sucks. I’m really starting to say it like this is just starting to suck, and so I got to this point where I had to wait for the crosswalk and I raised up my fists and I finally let some emotion out and I said, God, could it get any worse than this? And a school bus drove right past me and splashed cold water all over me. And I said, okay, I hear you. It could get worse. But interesting enough, [00:15:00] I look at other kids and I would completely understand to com have a complete fit. At that point, I was so happy. I felt that I had just gotten an answer and that.I was exactly where I needed to be and that things could be worse and that things are gonna get better. And That really carried me through foster care. And yeah, just having a lot of that faith and, I eventually came back to St. George and was able to be with my siblings and went to a lot of different schools. I went to seven high schools total in just the span of four years. I have a lot of friends, a lot of connections.
Sheri: I could, I take the pros from it. There’s lots of pros from
it and so I just really try to look at life that way. I think that’s the best way. For me, so
Amy: I think that’s actually quite unusual. I think there’s a lot of youth who experience [00:16:00] similar things to what you’ve experienced. They experience aging out. We all know the statistics. They are not great. So I think that’s really remarkable that you have been able to have such a positive attitude and have that kind of faith and have, you are a remarkable person that you’ve endured so much and you’re just keep going and you have a beautiful demeanor about you and you’re happy and finding the good. I think that’s really unusual and really beautiful.
Sheri: Thank you. It’s that polarity, right?
Sheri: I love it. I love it. Yeah.
Amy: So tell us about how you found Angels Landing and what that offered you and what it can offer other kids that are experiencing similar life circumstances.
Sheri: So after aged out of foster care I didn’t have the foster parents. I didn’t have the caseworkers. I had bills after I had bills and I had to go to work and there was no more school and there was no more hanging out with friends. It was time [00:17:00] to start growing up and it was time to start figuring out what life I wanted to create and make that for myself.
And so at 18 years old, after all those homes and all that, really it was. It was hard to transition into that. I, it took me a while. I think I still tried , be a kid as long as I could. I think the biggest piece of it though, was after finally getting out of, I wouldn’t say getting out of foster care because really the goal was to get adopted for me.
But that’s not the case for everybody. And so once I did age out of foster careI, got a job and I think the biggest piece of it for me was that once I aged out of foster care, I could now finally start to process all of it because being in it, there was no chance of that. Okay,
Sheri: so for the last five years I’ve been processing all of it. And 18, 19, you’re this young [00:18:00] still kid, right? You’re labeled an adult, but you’re still really a kid. And so just figuring that out and processing it all. But now that my frontal lobe’s getting closer to developing, that’s something I could, I’m excited about. But really I think just the time. It’s the time to be able to process what I had just went through and that was hard. Doing that alone at 18. Like I said, my mom passed away when I was three and I turned my dad in at 12. And so he was incarcerated for 10 years and that’s not a connection I’m willing to have.
And so there was no such thing as a parental figure in my life after foster care. And even in foster care, I had people I could look up to, but there really wasn’t a solid, too much of a solid person.
Sheri: And just to advocate,
I feel that this is something I would love to share is shout out to Big Brothers and Big Sisters program seriously be [00:19:00] because I’ve had a big sister from Big Brothers Big Sisters since I was 12, and she. Wasn’t my mom, know, didn’t have to take on this big duty, but she took on this role as a sister and she was my sister throughout foster care and, she’s still my big sister now. And so she was someone I was able to really look up to and have that solid connection.
Sheri: It’s probably over 10 years now,
Amy: and I think a lot of times we talk about in foster care, you just need one caring adult and it would be lovely to have 10 or 20 caring adults, of course.
But it sounds like you have that caring adult and you have that person who you can rely on. Maybe they’re not your mom, maybe you weren’t adopted by them, but you have that stable connection. That’s incredible.
Sheri: So it didn’t for me in this case, it didn’t need to be that, but it did need to be somebody.
That’s, and that’s so true that one caring adult. And for me that was Katie. Her name’s Katie, and she’s absolutely [00:20:00] phenomenal. And I think I bug her and call her as much as she used to try to get ahold of me when I was a kid. She’s got, she’s got her own now. Yep. They’ve totally turned. I love it. But she’s, I say that she’s really a big reason of who I am today and just been able to be that stable person. So I had her in foster care after aging out, and she took me to get my first set of groceries, everything I needed, and laundry detergent and just all the stables like, here it is, this is what you need.
Go get ’em, sister. And she just totally believed in me and set me up for success. And yeah that was great. But like I said, she’s got tables of turns. She’s got her own kids now and. I was still very young and needed some support. And navigating that alone for some time in some spaces were hard, but very growing.
And that’s just when Amer clap happened for me and for, for Utah. And that’s when Angel’s Landing came around. And seriously, it was just like, wow, all my [00:21:00] prayers have been answered. When I was a kid in foster care, I always wanted to be a part of something that helped young adults that have aged out or just in something. And I just, I love the goal of it. It’s beautiful. And Angels Landing They help young adults that wanna create a life they love and former foster youth. There’s a certain, there’s a specific dynamic, this specific space, and I love that’s. That’s important to this community and that’s a part of this community.
And being around other like-minded individuals that aren’t defined by their past and don’t wanna be defined by their past And come together and and create the life that they love and have that opportunity to do so through different things, different resources, like Angel’s Landing has. Activities once a month. So that’s providing, new experiences that maybe one wouldn’t get to have.
Sheri: Going hiking to Zion or going boating out in San Hollow. They really try to incorporate these [00:22:00] experiences that we. Adults like to have and give our own kids and that really are showing casing that there is so much life to live and so much fun to have.
And that’s such a beautiful piece of just that community and get getting together. That just is really awesome. And they also have core classes. They do. Let’s see here. I just wanna go off of our website just to give some
real real service here. And so the biggest service of Angels Landing is mental health, because I know that, okay, these guys have been through so much, which is so true. It’s not a, it’s not a normal situation. And so being able to provide a space where that can be worked out and processed and free, it is such a resource. And so Angel Landing provides that and it’s absolutely awesome. They have really cool learning opportunities that teach different skills that any young [00:23:00] adult would wanna know, like finances housing wellness.Tools transportation, how to buy a car, what all of those things look like. Here are the tools. Here’s the information. And then after that, they provide that financial support so that, that gap can really be bridged and that opportunity can really be given because in a world that we are in, that’s something that’s necessary.And if there’s that, that beautiful, that leg up, that financial support with that learning opportunity, it’s. So awesome because it feels so earned and it’s just man, I’m really getting on this path of success here. Like these people are really seeing this, writing this, path out for me and giving this opportunity for me to have, and then of course, just that community piece with those activities.
So it’s a wonderful opportunity for young adults that have been through foster care and need that kind of support.
Amy: I think all those things that you’re saying, those are [00:24:00] things that parents should be teaching that role models should be teaching, that healthy adults should be teaching. So kids that are aging out, they have missed that opportunity and it is. Horrible. They should never have had to miss the opportunity. But having this program, this nonprofit that’s now providing these resources, that is invaluable and it’s gonna change the statistics of kids aging out,
Sheri: It is gonna a hundred percent change the statistics. And, I always say like you might be seeing and hearing one person right now, It’s, gonna be a generational thing because I’m gonna go on to teach my kid these skills and then that kid’s gonna do the same, and then those statistics will get lower.
And that’s just how it works. I just love it. I just, I love the mission of it all. It’s.
Amy: No, it’s, it is amazing and I didn’t even know it. existed, and I. I. have closed my foster care license, but. I have been a foster parent. And I think this is really important for foster parents to know about to teach the kids, show them this resource that they do have and [00:25:00] also to educate the public.
Kids are aging out with no support. Some kids are aging out with awesome foster parents, right? That happens too. And so just educating the public that this is a resource for. Kids that have experienced
aging out of the foster care system, that is invaluable. So
where are the best places that people can get information?
Do you guys have a website, an Instagram? What’s the best place that someone can reach out and find ways to get support?
Sheri: Yes, so we’ve got a website, angels landing foundation.org. And we’ve also got an Instagram, Angels Landing Foundation.
Amy: Okay. Awesome. So those are two really easy ways that foster parents or kids that are aging out or have aged out and need resources can reach out to you guys. I love that. On a personal note, I would love
to know what the outcome of your twin sister and your brother were in the foster care system.
Sheri: Great question. Thank you. Me and my sister live together now. We’re together
Um, yeah, it’s definitely something that [00:26:00] we have to, really practice our, as just sisters do and family does. But on top of just what we’ve been through, it’s definitely been a learning curve and twins, but we love each other and she’s doing amazing.
She’s actually an Ayurvedic chef.
Sheri: she’s cooking at a retreat center and diving
into holistic medicine and wellness and just, yeah. I think just providing the tools we can to
live our best life. That’s what we wanted when we were 12, when we were leaving our situation, and it’s what we still want now.And yeah just, yeah. I’m so proud of her and what she’s doing and I love that we’re both in this realm of kind of.Giving backand providing the tools for ourselves but also not being defined by our pasts.And I love how that shows light to other, other people. I I’ve had, there’s young adults that walk into Angel’s Landing and they say she was a she was in foster care. Like what? [00:27:00] They just can’t even believe it. And it’s like you have this light inside of you as well and you are capable of all of these things as well. And none of that is even the you You’re not your past. And so it’s just super cool to be able to round like-minded individuals and it’s wonderful.
Amy: I love that. That is beautiful. Thank you so much. And it truly is,as a foster parent who has had a lot of kids come through my home, it’s really remarkable to see. How courageous you are, how much you’re giving back the good that you’re doing for yourself and for the community. It’s just, it’s really remarkable. And I just wanna commend you on that ’cause you’veendured a lot. I can imagine. And you’re really putting your best foot forward for yourself and for others. And that’s, it’s really beautiful. So thank you for all that you’re doing in the community. Thank you so much for joining our podcast today. We are so excited for our listeners to be able to have the chance to listen and learn from you, and [00:28:00] hopefully they can head over to Angels Landing Foundation to learn more. If our listeners have questions about foster care, they can head over to Utah foster care.org to learn more.
