August Face of a Foster Care Graduate Feature-Ashley Rhodes-Courter
August 2, 2009
Our August Face of a Foster Care Graduate comes to us from the state of Florida. I’m proud to introduce a remarkable young lady named Ashley Rhodes-Courter. Ashley spent her early childhood in foster care, being moved from home to home, a total of 14 placements! At the tender age of 12, a wonderful couple gave Ashley what she (every child deserves) deserved and desperately needed; a loving mother and father and a place to call home. I would like to extend my appreciation and gratitude to Gay and Phil Courter for being a shining light for Ashley. As amazing as she is, you are the blessing that came along and helped her shine! It is remarkable what love can do! Meet Ashley…..
Name: Ashley Rhodes-Courter
State: Florida
Occupation: Speaker and Author
Advisory Boards: Recently appointed as an adviser to Children Without a Voice USA - http://www.childrenwithoutavoiceusa.org
Website: http://www.rhodes-courter.com
Ashley’s NY Times Best Selling book: Three Little Words: A Memoir
Favorite source of inspiration: Sharing here story with other foster children and promoting adoption.
A Truly Remarkable Leader
Ashley Rhodes-Courter was born in North Carolina in 1985 and entered the Florida foster care system at the tender age of three. Over the next nine years, she lived in 14 placements before being adopted at age 12 by Phil and Gay Courter of Crystal River, Florida.
Ashley just graduated with honors from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. She was the recipient of Eckerd’s Trustee’s Scholarship, their most prestigious full-tuition award. She has won several other national and local scholarships. She completed a double major in communications and drama with a double minor in political science and psychology.
At college, Ashley spent time in South Africa working with a children’s literacy project. In the local community she works with several organizations including the Heart Gallery of Pasco & Pinellas, also frequently doing on-camera work.
Ashley was the 2004 Youth Advocate of the Year for the North American Council on Adoptable Children and won the Child Welfare League of America “Kids to Kids” National Service Grand Prize. In 2004, she and her family jointly won the Angels in Adoption Award from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute and was nominated by Congresswoman, Ginny Brown-Waite.
On June 1, 2003, the New York Times Magazine published her grand prize winning essay, “Three Little Words” about her adoption day. She expanded her essay into a memoir (also called “Three Little Words”) which has just been published by Simon & Schuster.
In 2007 she was one of 20 college students selected for the USA Today All-USA Academic Team. She also was one of the four GOLDEN BR!CK Award winners for outstanding advocacy by Do Something, and was named one of GLAMOUR Magazine’s Top Ten College Women.
Ashley has been featured on Montel Williams, Good Morning America, $.99 Cool Ranch Doritos bags, and other national and local television shows. She is currently maintaining a full calendar of speeches and workshops all across the country. She has a passion to tell her story and share hope with other foster children and encourage adoption and permanency.
Special Message from Ashley
For the more than half a million children in foster care, and the 118,000 children waiting to be adopted. May they find as much love, happiness, and success as I have. I also want to thank the GOOD foster and adoptive parents for opening their hearts and homes to children. And without dedicated CASA’s, Guardian ad Litem, and other child welfare workers, so many more of us would fall through the cracks.
Ashley is an active motivational speaker
Ashley with children in Africa
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Truly an inspiration! Thank you Ashley for speaking on behalf of the estimated 6 million neglected or unwanted children each year in the U.S. Many of whom will become wards of the state or homeless.
It was awesome reading about you and all of your accomplishments . I want to take a second to acknowledge Gay and Phil your parents. They did a great job loving you and giving you a lot of support. My wife and I wanting to adopt and this story is very inspirational. Keep up the great work…..
WOW! An amazing young woman.