How Actress Angela Featherstone’s Painful Childhood Inspired Her Mission to Help Others Exit Foster Care (Video)

Actress Angela Featherstone has starred in popular TV shows like Friends And Seinfeld over the past two decades, but behind the scenes she struggled with the scars of a painful childhood.

“I would characterize the first 16 years of my life as physically, emotionally, psychologically, and ultimately sexually abusive,” Featherstone told Yahoo Life. “At the very least, there has been consistent criminal negligence and numerous abandonments. »

At 16, Featherstone, originally from Nova Scotia, was placed in the foster care system in Canada, an experience that shaped her life and, in many ways, deepened her trauma. Today, she is a passionate advocate for children in the system and the founder of Fostering Care, a nonprofit organization committed to healing young adults (ages 18-21) who are aging out of the foster care system . The program consists of a three-month course during which students receive a teaching certificate in a healing modality, such as meditation, breathwork, or yoga. Additionally, the program hosts lectures on topics such as nutrition, substance abuse, and various life skills.

Featherstone knows how crucial these healing tools can be for youth transitioning from foster care to adulthood. She remembers being placed in a group home at age 16 and witnessing sexual activity, violence and drug use, while lacking proper food and care. “I kept getting placed in these group homes and kept running away because I hated group homes. They were really bad and I didn’t feel safe there, so I kept leaving,” says Featherstone.

But on the streets, she found herself facing even darker threats.

“I was being trafficked, I was just raped all the time. I didn’t get any money and I wasn’t on any street corner. It was different than what I had imagined in my head,” Featherstone says. “I hadn’t felt it could be so subtle, because it could happen to you and you don’t even realize it’s happening to you.”

This year, more than 23,000 children will no longer be in the care of the child welfare system, and many will face threats such as homelessness, incarceration or trafficking. Studies in the United States and elsewhere consistently report that 50 to 90 percent of child sex trafficking victims have been involved in the child welfare system — which Featherstone says is based on systemic problems that allow the dark world of sex trafficking to thrive and target the most vulnerable. youth.

“I just see this image of foster families who are like the ones who run pens for cattle before they’re slaughtered: slaughter is almost approaching its 18th year in the state of California,” Featherstone says. “The pipeline from foster care to pedophiles is alive and well. »

Featherstone was eventually stopped by police, arrested and charged with “immorality”, which she later learned was prostitution. At 17 and a half, she begged the judge to emancipate her, which he did, and with her newfound freedom, she borrowed money from a friend and took a bus to Toronto. In less than a year, she became one of the most in-demand models in Canada and eventually moved to New York to develop her career.

Soon, Hollywood came knocking at her door, and in addition to hit TV series, she landed roles in films like The wedding singer And Air conditioning. Despite her success, Featherstone says she began drinking and struggled to find solid ground.

“I was at the peak of my acting career and some very difficult moments happened at work and I didn’t have the infrastructure to handle them. When this happened, I broke down and sought solace in homelessness,” says Featherstone. “I became homeless. I literally threw all my money at anyone who would take it. I just wanted to start from scratch.

Featherstone said she carried a childlike sadness and often wondered why her youth had been so traumatic. In 2011, she attended the UCLA writing program and began writing a memoir. Featherstone has since shared her experiences with sex trafficking and forgiveness in essays. In 2016, however, Featherstone suffered another setback in his recovery, and that moment began to align his painful past with his purpose.

“I had a really tough year and almost didn’t make it. I almost killed myself. It was so painful,” she tells Yahoo Life. “It was time to really heal the deep wounds. And it was so excruciating.

Through different therapies, yoga and writing, Featherstone says she discovered her purpose in helping young adults who have survived the foster care system. In 2020, she began developing the Fostering Care framework, which includes teaching healing modalities intended to balance the mind, body, and emotions.

“I wanted to work on codependency, work on individuation and also work on intimacy and vulnerability skills. If all of your physical, mental and emotional boundaries have been completely ignored or completely violated, more often than not, it is very difficult to have a truly prosperous life,” says Featherstone.

Featherstone hopes to help young adults see their scars and heal with love. She wants them to return to their communities more whole and ready to become essential contributors to society who can in turn help others heal – just as she did.

“If I had been loved…if I had received everything that every child rightly deserves, I would never have left my hometown,” she says. “I would never have had this huge desire to get out of where I was and change my life and change the world.

—Video made by Jacquie Cosgrove