Meet Crystal Williams: foster care alumni, child welfare advocate and poet

One of the real joys of doing what we do is encountering inspiring individuals who remind us why our work is important. At the recent Raise Me Up launch event at the Georgia State Capitol, we met a dynamic woman named Crystal Williams. Crystal is a foster care alumni who entered the child welfare system at the age of 10. Now 23, she is a powerful advocate for bringing about change for youth who have been touched by the foster care system.

Read Raise Me Up poem

Read Crystal's biography

Raise ME Up

I am NOT a case number in a file
piled high
while lies arise
all eyes on me.
I cry, you see
The surface me
Complete with flaws and stereotypes
Don't believe the hype!
Wipe away all the lies and see the me beneath
I'm trying to be unique
To reach my potential peak
Its essential, seek to speak life into me
Then I'll be
All that I can be
Like the army
So don't forget to arm me
With the weapons that I need
To seek the lead
To be effective in this fight
Called LIFE.
The battle's in my mind
To redefine my mental.
And my credentials
Don't exactly qualify me to be labeled essential
to society
But YOU can change me, help me, RAISE ME UP
'Cause this phase is up
Yeah I was a foster child, so what?
At some point I must grow up.
And show up at a graduation
where I wear a cap and gown
While others nap
I'm crowned the QUEEN of my DESTINY.
Defying the critics
Outlasting the misfits
Not falling victim to statistics
Realizing, I'm rising
Despising failure
Not compromising
I am rising
Sizing up the lies
I gotta make sure all that dies
Cause I realize, all that it is too heavy to carry with me
Weighing me down
So I'm laying it down,
IT'S TIME TO GO HIGHER.
Ignore the liars,
This former foster kid is on fire
Inspired
To rise higher
So give me a lift
Shift your focus to address ALL of ME
Even the flaws
And equip me for the cause
Change the laws
To see me as more than a "clause in section five"
I WILL SURVIVE
I WILL ARISE
Address me as the greatness that I am,
Don't label me crazy
Or assume that I'm lazy
'Cause I'm not asking you to praise me
I'm just asking you to RAISE ME UP.

- Used with permission of the author, Crystal L. Williams

About Crystal Williams

Crystal Williams is an artist at heart; weaving together inspirational spoken words and dramatic arts to bring about change in the child welfare system.  Upon entering the foster care system at the age of 10, Crystal realized that she could not allow this experience to tromp her vision of greatness.  Crystal's experiences in the foster care system have given her a drive to motivate young people and their advocates to bring about change.  She began writing at a very early age and discovered her gift of writing and speaking poetry while still in high school.  At the age of 18, Crystal began using her poetry to motivate foster parents as a Junior Foster Parent Recruiter for the Fulton County Department of Family and Children Services.  Through hard word and consistency, Crystal strives to set a standard for youth in the foster care system.  Crystal graduated from Emory University in May of 2009 with a B.A. in English/Creative Writing and a minor in Theater Studies.  Crystal has taken advantage of numerous opportunities to cultivate her skills as a youth advocacy through her work with Casey Family programs, the Georgia Empowerment Group, The Barton Child Law and Policy Clinic of Emory University and the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services.   Crystal has shared her poetry locally, statewide, nationally, and internationally through her work with the Adult Drama Team and the B.I.G. Student Ministries Drama Team of World Changers Church International.  As both an advocate and an artist, Crystal Williams offers a unique approach to child advocacy that is both powerful and effective in bringing about change for youth who have been touched by the foster care system.