Your Gifts in Action - Daro

God’s love is shining bright at our Rio Bend Foster Care Community, located in Fort Bend County. Here many of the foster children and youth are refugees separated from their parents, orphans or trafficking victims, from places as far as Africa and Central America. While their paths here may be different, at Rio Bend they are blessed with the care and therapeutic services needed to help them heal and prepare for a brighter future.

Daro became a refugee at 12 years old, escaping a violent civil war in his homeland of Sudan by walking for a week with five other boys until he reached Ethiopia. After three years in a refugee camp, Daro was referred to the United States by a United Nations worker and entered our St. Jerome’s Unaccompanied Refugee Minors program.

Daro found his new home here much different than in Sudan, where his village had no electricity. He did not speak English, so communicating was very hard. But Daro was grateful for his new start, and embraced his learning opportunities with enthusiasm. His foster family provided a caring home as he adapted to his new life and school and we provided support, counseling, and life skills and job training to prepare him to live independently.

Today at 19, Daro speaks and writes English well, has graduated high school and secured a Craig A. Boardman scholarship for showing great potential to succeed in college. He has entered our Supervised Independent Living program, living in his own apartment and interviewing for part-time work while he attends Houston Community College. His Catholic Charities caseworker is close by, offering encouragement and guiding Daro through big decisions as he reaches full independence. Daro is excited about his future, believing his success in school will allow him to help himself and support his family one day. Most of all, he is looking forward to a career that will allow him to help others as he has been so richly blessed.