The Sauer Family Foundation seeks opportunities to increase public awareness of the foster care experience. We are grateful to Ace Goff for joining us in recognizing National Foster Care Month by sharing her life journey which has intersected our foster care system and so much more.

My name is Ace Goff and I’m honored to speak as someone with lived experience. I am a foster youth and a disrupted adoptee and that experience didn’t just shape me, it built me.

My journey into advocacy began when I connected with Foster Advocates, where I found not only support, but purpose. That’s where I fell in love with defending fosters because I know firsthand what it feels like to go unheard.

At a young age, I realized something that no child should ever have to learn: nobody was coming to save me. So I became my own support. I became my own hero. But the truth is, I shouldn’t have had to be strong—I needed to be safe. And that’s something I carry with me in everything I do today.

As someone who is Black, Native American, and Puerto Rican, I understand how layered and complex our identities can be. Foster youth are not one story—we are many. Our experiences are intersectional, and our voices deserve to be heard in every space that claims to serve us.

I’m currently pursuing a degree in criminal justice, with the goal of continuing to advocate for systems that truly protect and uplift youth in care. Because this work is bigger than me—it’s about creating change that lasts. I often say I don’t mind paving the road for other fosters. I’ll lay it down so they can walk it, return to it, and build on it—homes, communities, and futures that feel like their own. That’s how we grow. That’s how we heal.

To the people reading this—especially those working in systems that impact foster youth—please listen to your young people. Not just hear them, but value them. These are your future nurses, doctors, teachers, principals, entrepreneurs, and leaders. The way you show up for them today will shape the communities we all live in tomorrow.

And to fosters, past and present: I see you. We see you. You are not invisible, and you are not alone. You are worthy of safety, of love, and of a future that feels yours. Keep going.

This is more than a moment. This is about building something that lasts—a legacy of care, accountability, and real support for the generations coming after us.