Quotes from Vanessa Diffenbaugh

At Camellia Network, we believe if we can create a way of identifying every young person aging out of foster care, defining what they need, and giving a community of supporters a simple and clear way to fulfill those needs, we can produce radically improved outcomes for youth.

We all make mistakes, and we all need second chances. For youth in foster care, these mistakes are often purposeful - if not consciously so; a way to test the strength of a bond and establish trust in a new parent.

We have been trained to broadcast our successes and hide our failures. But the truth is this: our failures humanise us, and they connect us to one another.

Every second I have spare, I'm with my kids.

It is stories - both real and fictional - that can captivate hearts, change minds and, in the most powerful examples, spur action.

Our standards for motherhood are so high that many of us harbor intense, secret guilt for every harsh word we speak to our children, every negative thought that enters our minds.

I did a minor in creative writing in college, but I didn't start writing until I stayed at home with my own children.

My husband was working as principal of an urban transformation high school - the kind of public charter school determined to do whatever it takes to give its mostly minority, low-income student body the education they need and deserve to be successful in life.

The problem is foster youth don't really have this network that other kids have.

The names of common flowers change from decade to decade, so I spent a lot of time with old outdated dictionaries, with awful flower names like 'mouse-eared chickweed.'

As a college student, I worked as a mentor, and that got me involved in working with young people long before I became a foster parent.

First drafts are never any good - at least, mine aren't.

The most violent and troubling stories become part of our national consciousness about foster care.

I've always loved the language of flowers. I discovered Kate Greenaway's 'Language of Flowers' in a used bookstore when I was 16 and couldn't believe it was such a well-kept secret. How could something so beautiful and romantic be virtually unknown?

Hate can be passionate or disengaged; it can come from dislike but also from fear.