(WXYZ) — A forever family, it's what every child deserves, but for the thousands of children in Michigan who land in foster care, the journey to find a safe haven is daunting.
Watch Carolyn's full story in the video player below:
Yasmine Bosca was one of those children; she lost her mom at age 3 and her grandmother a year later. Her grandfather fought to keep custody of Yasmine and her brother.
"He was gone a lot ... we would be by ourselves for two to three weeks at a time," said Yasmine.
And when he was there, she says he was extremely abusive.
"He would hit us with extension cords, he would choke my brother, he would punch us," she said.
Despite their house of horrors, Yasmine and her brother would keep secrets from Child Protective Services.
"We were always told, 'you're not allowed to talk about it' ... so we would end up lying," she said.
Until it became too much.
"He broke a broom over my brother's back; he was being really terrible," she recalled.
And Yasmine says that when she lied about taking a shower, she became a target.
"He started like screaming and like he beat me with a belt a couple times ... he forced me to delete everything I had pre-saved on the TV and when I wasn't going fast enough, he started punching me in the face," said Yasmine.
Her brother finally got the courage to tell a social worker.
"The police took me and my brother to the police station, and I went into care and my brother had to go back home, because he had turned 18 two days before," she said.
Now 13, Yasmine was sent to Davenport Shelter in the city. It was shut down after two of its residents landed in the hands of sex traffickers.
"We were forced to wear prison clothes, all of our stuff was locked up ... there were fights consistently," she said.
Yasmine says it was dirty, they ate prison food, and girls were constantly running away.
"It was in the middle of Detroit, they were running away and like going to get drugs, and the shelter people were allowing it," said Yasmine.
Meanwhile, her brother, forced to return to his abusive grandfather, became homeless—until his uncle rescued him from the streets.
"My brother was dirty ... his clothes were tattered and he took him home," she said.
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Yasmine, given a lifeline, was invited to stay at House of Providence in Detroit.
"We receive some of our state's most broken, most desperate children; most of them come to us after a long stay at a psychiatric hospital," said Maggie Dunn.
House of Providence is a residential placement facility founded by Maggie and Jason Dunn 13 years ago.
"I saw a system in crisis ... toddlers living in what would have been a juvenile detention facility, but there were no homes, so they were being sheltered there," she said.
"There was a shelter for minors ... ceilings were coming in the corners from leaks that had not been addressed and black mold, and I remember sitting in one and seeing some sort of vermin run across the room," said Maggie.
Maggie comes from a home where her parents always welcomed kids in need.
"I am one of 14 kids, six biological and eight adopted," she said. "We just had a loud, safe, loving family."
Maggie believed there was another way to help some of the 10,000 foster kids in Michigan—especially those traumatized by murder, neglect and unspeakable abuse like Yasmine.
Yasmine said when she first walked in, "it was awesome."
"Beautiful green grass ... trampoline ... little garden," she said. "It just felt like a home."
But danger was still lurking, so a new home in Oxford was built with nature, a garden and tranquil living where eight girls who have experienced far too much trauma get treatment to live again without anxiety and fear.
"The children who were trafficked, their traffickers found out where they were. We were still so in the mix of where the children were rescued from," said Maggie on the reason for the move. "Nature is so healing, and what we thought is ... could we bring them out of that inner city feel."
Two girls share a room, they have new clothes, their laundry done daily, family dining, plenty of food, a play area and weekly therapy to heal.
She says they've helped 104 kids, and that the biggest challenge has been finding forever families.
It takes special people to step up and say, "I'll walk with this child who has been through atrocities that I could never imagine in my darkest day and be a part of their healing journey," said Maggie.
For Yasmine, a family adopted her at 17— 6 months before she aged out of the foster care system.
"I was so happy ... I knew that people loved me, and I didn't have to fight anymore," she said.
Yasmine is now working full-time at House of Providence. They also have a school in Pontiac and a resource center, changing lives for the better one at a time.
