"The people I've met on this journey have given me a home; not a place or shelter necessarily, but where peace dwells inside of me" ~JW

So, I've been meaning to make this post for a while. I figure it's close to overdue, especially since the Meet Me Halfway Finale was this past weekend. Meet Me Halfway is a project that Jimmy Wayne began to raise awareness of the fact that too many youth — especially those who are aging out of the foster care system — are facing circumstances similar to those he faced when he was young.

Let me back up a minute and tell you a bit about Jimmy Wayne. He's a country music artist, and I've been a fan ever since I first heard his song Stay Gone in like... 2003? I saw Jimmy Wayne in concert last summer, and I knew of his history at the time, but hearing him talk about it made it that much more real. (And okay, maybe I cried a little at the concert, but really, between hearing him talk about it and the lyrics to some of his songs, it was a valid reaction.) Jimmy Wayne survived a turbulent, abusive childhood. His father abandoned the family. His mother went to prison, and Jimmy and his sister were shuttled to a series of foster homes. His stepfather tried to murder him. He was a homeless teen, living by his wits on the street, until he met the Costners, the couple that gave him a home and a family. They had first hired him to mow their lawn, and then offered him a place to stay, with the agreement that he would go back to high school. After high school, he worked in a textile mill and as a prison guard as he was working his way toward an associate degree in Criminal Justice before he ended up in Nashville. He spends a lot of time talking with and supporting foster children and homeless youth. One of the articles I read quoted him as saying that someday, he'd like to build an orphanage for kids who are too old to be adopted.

Earlier this year, Jimmy began a campaign called Meet Me Halfway. He would walk from Nashville, TN to Phoenix, AZ. The walk would be halfway across the country, he would find supporters who would "meet him halfway" by volunteering and helping to spread the word, and he would interview with media outlets to generate publicity and awareness of the issue. "Because I was helped when I needed it, I want to try and help now," Wayne said. "I'm not asking people to come out and walk with me, but I am asking them to meet me halfway by getting involved - donate money, adopt a kid, learn more about the foster child/foster parent program in your local community. There's so much one person can do, and so many ways they can make a difference. It just takes one person to help someone to a better life."

There are 463,000 American youth in foster care. Foster children don't have the option of staying with their families when they become adults. They don't have the emotional and financial support that most kids do. Most of them don't have the skills necessary to transition from foster care to independent living. More than 20% of young adults aging out of the system experience homelessness. As many as 3 in 10 of the nation's homeless adults have a history in foster care.

Obviously, a lot of people don't have the resources to be foster parents, but there are other ways you can help: financial donations, volunteering time or resources, getting involved in local community programs that help with foster care.

There is a list of national and state organizations that help with foster children on the Meet Me Halfway Website.

You can also Make a Financial Donation to Meet Me Halfway.

Or you can join an MMH Street Team and help spread the word about the project and the issue.

One person, one contribution, can make a difference in a child's life. If you want to find more information about the Meet Me Halfway organization, you can visit the website at http://projectmmh.org/.