Teasia Johnson, 19, has been in foster care most of her life. She has lived in three different boroughs, but feels most at home in Harlem, where she currently lives.

Unsettled: A Life in Foster Care

By: Melissa Matthews, Nicholas Rees, Pimrapee Thungkasemvathana

Imagine being 19, a freshman in college and no photos capturing those special moments that make up a childhood— your first birthday, your kindergarten graduation, your first time sitting on Santa’s lap. Now, as a young adult, you just moved into the home of a complete stranger — for the second time in three weeks. Picture moving into a strange home upwards of 11 times over the course of your life; never knowing if and when you’ll have to move next.

This is the only photo Teasia could find from her childhood.

“I could potentially move today,” says Teasia Johnson, whose birth mother is a recovering drug addict. For Teasia, the hardest part is going into the home of a stranger.

“It’s not like you get a briefing of them before you go there,” Teasia explains. “You don’t know these people. You don’t know if the home is clean. You don’t know if there’s going to be food; if they’re going to treat you like family.”

According to the Children’s Aid Society, nearly half of the kids in foster care are teens, and in 2014, 381 adolescents aged out of the system in New York City at 21 years old.

So what happens to these kids? At the age of 18, they aren’t children anymore but aren’t adults who can support themselves either. What happens when you’ve grown up without the constant guidance and support of family in a city plagued with housing woes?

Through the Administration for Children’s Services, Teasia has applied for public housing. But she has seen foster kids wait years for an apartment, sometimes finally getting a place to call home at the age of 24.

The corner of Hancock Place and west 124th street holds special memories for Teasia — this is where lived with her mom, a recovering drug addict, for four years.

Despite her stressful situation, Teasia is surprisingly optimistic. Although she has a strained relationship with her current foster mother, Teasia has had some positive experiences too, which have kept her motivated to do well in school at the Borough of Manhattan Community College.

Appearance is important for Teasia, who earns extra money through baby sitting jobs and her brief stint at IHOP. She likes to accessorize outfits with jewelry and is particularly proud of this necklace bearing her name.