Jesse and Josh
From the time they were babies, Jesse and Josh have been continually abandoned and abused by the system. Jesse explains, “I was in foster care since I was born, and in three families prior to the one I was with for eleven years. I was raped by my half brother… I was six years old.”
Josh, who was conceived through rape, was placed in foster care at four years old after his Mom overdosed on drugs. Until eleven , the cycle of neglect grew worse for Josh . “ The foster homes I was in were really abusive. I was starved, beaten, raped, molested… I tried to kill myself and was institutionalized at six.”
Eventually, Jesse and Josh were adopted, but neither found unconditional love. Both were kicked out and homeless in their teens - at a time when they were coming out and needed adult understanding and support. For the next few years, their parallel lives struggled to mature with lost jobs, broken cars, sexual discrimination, and no home or person to rely on… until they found each other.
Ironically, the greatest love and respect either had ever experienced came from someone with no home, support or solid upbringing – and, someone who carried similar loss and neglect. Each wanting the other to be safe and successful, they knew that they had to turn their lives around. As Jesse recalls, “we just looked at each other and said, ‘we can't live this life anymore, we can't go house to house. We've got to get on our own. We gotta get a job. We gotta do something.’”
Together, the couple got Jesse’s GED, jobs at a local community outreach clinic, and an apartment. When asked who he considered his backbone, Jesse said, “Josh. He…he’s basically the only family I have left.”
Back to Out of Respect
Josh, who was conceived through rape, was placed in foster care at four years old after his Mom overdosed on drugs. Until eleven , the cycle of neglect grew worse for Josh . “ The foster homes I was in were really abusive. I was starved, beaten, raped, molested… I tried to kill myself and was institutionalized at six.”
Eventually, Jesse and Josh were adopted, but neither found unconditional love. Both were kicked out and homeless in their teens - at a time when they were coming out and needed adult understanding and support. For the next few years, their parallel lives struggled to mature with lost jobs, broken cars, sexual discrimination, and no home or person to rely on… until they found each other.
Ironically, the greatest love and respect either had ever experienced came from someone with no home, support or solid upbringing – and, someone who carried similar loss and neglect. Each wanting the other to be safe and successful, they knew that they had to turn their lives around. As Jesse recalls, “we just looked at each other and said, ‘we can't live this life anymore, we can't go house to house. We've got to get on our own. We gotta get a job. We gotta do something.’”
Together, the couple got Jesse’s GED, jobs at a local community outreach clinic, and an apartment. When asked who he considered his backbone, Jesse said, “Josh. He…he’s basically the only family I have left.”
Back to Out of Respect
