To say Liz Sutherland started her life at a disadvantage would be a grave understatement. Born in Spain, along with a brother and a sister, their mother sold them, at one point, to panhandlers.
Then, a man she thought was her father, took her and her siblings to North Carolina and left them with a woman they thought was their grandmother. They never saw the man again.
Sutherland and her siblings lived with the woman in a single-wide trailer until she was 13, when her foster care journey began.
“In between ages 13 and 18, I was in multiple placements,” she said. “Then, at age 18, I aged out of foster care.” She graduated high school on June 4, her 18th birthday was June 9 and on June 10, ready or not, she was on her own.
Sutherland, now a resident of New Port Richey, found help from her neighbor, her hairdresser and other kind people in her life, eventually getting into Western Carolina State University on Pell grants and other financial aid. She had a roof over her head and food to eat.
Most aged-out foster kids are not so lucky.
Philanthropist Jeff Wisdom heard her story and heard about the book she had written to inspire other foster children aging out of the system, entitled No Ordinary Liz. He and sailor Sean Ives have since started a nonprofit to take aged-out foster youth sailing for three months. During their cruise in the Caribbean, they will learn teamwork, philanthropy, sailing, scuba diving and other life skills to prepare them for life.
The 100-foot sailing vessel they will travel on is named No Ordinary Liz.
This February will mark the ship’s first official cruise out of Tampa with six to eight aged-out foster kids between the ages of 18 and 24 onboard.
“It’s the skills they will learn, but more importantly, it’s the relationship building,” said Sutherland, who already made the sailing trip. “How powerful is it that they will be aboard a ship named for another aged-out foster kid? I hope the young adults ask about the ship’s name and the crew can say who inspired it.”
Taking the trip herself was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, Sutherland said. “They purchased the ship to be able to transform lives. I was able to put myself back into that aged-out foster stage of my life and just took it all in.”
She helped make meals, learned sailing skills and visited various ports of call. “Being on that boat was incredible. Seeing a whole different world out there changed my perspective entirely.”
The crew sailed to Antigua where they did community outreach and saw a different side of the world, she said. “I loved that I was able to tap into that. We connected with Meals on Wheels and catered to 20-plus locals. I got to meet the oldest person on the island – she is 103 – and deliver a meal to her.”
They also made bracelets with young girls who had been the victims of physical and sexual abuse and connect with them on a personal level.
Some five million youth ages 18-24 in the U.S. are not working or in school and only one in 10 from low-income families go on to graduate from a four-year college. Of those, 23,000 age out of the U.S. foster care system each year, many with little preparation for living on their own.
Sutherland was lucky, she said. A neighbor showed her how to fill out a bank deposit slip and her hairdresser co-signed for her to get a car. There were people in her life she could use as steppingstones, she said. But not all are so lucky.
Those who wish to participate in the sailing adventure or who want to volunteer to go along or help in other ways can contact the I CAN Project online to apply.
The program is all about believing in oneself and about taking vulnerable youth and showing them that they have chances they may not have realized. The foundation works with young adults who show dedication and possibilities despite the hardships they have endured.
There is no essay to write, just a video to share with the foundation, said Sutherland, who serves as the I CAN ambassador and spokesperson. She has long ago put away the black plastic garbage bag she used to transport her meager belongings from one foster home to another and hopes to inspire others to do the same, to thrive, she said.
