Life & Work with Jacob Holley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jacob Holley.

Hi Jacob, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, you could tell our readers some of your backstory.
I would like to believe my story is just starting, or at least this chapter. While growing up was more complicated than I would like to admit, with childhood trauma mixed with different placements during my time in foster care, it has made me stronger. I didn’t grow up in the best household. I was sexually assaulted when I was 7 years old, then found myself in foster care 4 years later. From the time I was 11 to the time I was 16, I was in 27 different placements in foster care. That’s 27 different addresses, 27 beds, and 27 new homes with staff that never showed that they cared about my future. This was hard for me, but I considered every new bed/home a new adventure. And now I’m on a new adventure. Growing up, I never had hopes and dreams, and now that I am older, I’m accomplishing my dreams and going after them. I went from a shy kid wishing for an adult to not just care about my physical safety but also my future and nurture conversation to the adult I needed when I was in foster care, from helping youth all over the valley in one-on-one conversations to policy advocacy down at the state capitol and everywhere in between.

Would it have been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As I mentioned in the last question, I was sexually abused when I was 7, in addition to other trauma/traumatic experiences along the way in my childhood. If I had to pinpoint where the major struggle was, it would be when I lost a dear friend to suicide. She was the first person that I felt cared about me. I was the one who found her and called 911 while performing CPR as a 13-year-old teenager. Seeing her like that caused me to shut down for 6 years about what I was going through. Even in my home life, when I was reunited with my biological mother, I never felt like I could open up about anything. My mom and grandma grew up with the understanding that ‘men don’t talk about their emotions.’ This caused many depression episodes and anxiety attacks in my late teen years.

Thanks for sharing that. So, tell us more about your work next.
I am still figuring out what my career looks like in the future. I’m a young professional working in the child welfare system, focusing on foster care advocacy. I have been on a fantastic journey the last couple of years, from meeting my wife Laurie and being in different spaces to growing professionally and helping the foster care system with various companies like Fostering Advocates Arizona. As a youth board member, we focus on policy advocacy surrounding the child welfare and foster care systems. We are going through a training program with the Arizona ACE Consortium to become certified ACE trainers. I love being in these opportunities as work because it allows me to be a better-trained adult to help these foster care youth.

What makes you happy?
I enjoy the simple things in life. Is that from being in the foster care system or not having grown much? I enjoy spending time with my wife, cooking dinner for my family, and even the little things I grew up with, like a nice glass of chocolate milk or Saturday morning cartoons of Scooby-Doo/Courage The Cowardly Dog. These things are minor in life and can turn a bad day at work or me being frustrated with my school work into a good day where I have a smile on my face.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cajuncowboy99/