Seattle resident Kyle Martinez, 24, became a foster child when he was 15, moving in with his sister and brother-in-law. The couple was in their 20s and had just welcomed a new baby. The placement by the state Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) removed Martinez from the tumultuous home life he experienced with his parents.
Martinez attended school in Bellevue and started receiving assistance from foster support organizations like Seattle-based Treehouse and the DCYF Independent Living Program. When he turned 18, Martinez moved in with a partner and her family and remained in extended foster care until he aged out of the system at 21.
Today, Martinez is a freelance audiovisual tech and works part-time as a mentor with Route 21. The program connects former foster youth with current youth in care. He is determined to spread the word about the programs that have shaped him—including giving a talk at a Las Vegas educators conference advocating for nationwide replication of the LifeSet program’s comprehensive support for foster kids beyond age 18.
We asked Martinez about his experience as a foster child. Here’s part of that conversation:
Seattle’s Child (SC): How did being a foster youth shape who you are?
Kyle Martinez: When I first started high school, I didn’t really imagine myself doing a whole lot. It wasn’t until there were people in my life who asked about my academics and goals and encouraged me that I felt I had any sense of capability.
A small example was when I was in elementary and middle school, I played a snowboarding game called SSX Tricky, but I never saw it as a possibility for me to go snowboarding. I didn’t know anyone who snowboarded. My foster dad taught me to be frugal enough to find [equipment], and then Treehouse covered a season pass. It’s not even about making my dreams come true, but more like encouraging me to have a dream in the first place.
Tell us about your work with Route 21
The idea is we’re with [our mentees] until they’re 21 and potentially beyond that. I get to help in this person’s life and model a lot of things. So I’d say being in foster care taught me to dream and it also inspired me to be the one to inspire the next generation of foster youth.
Were there other positive fostering experiences?
There were a lot of great things about living with my sister and her husband, but also kind of hard things. They really tried to be present in a lot of ways, but there were a lot of things I just had to do for myself. I had to get around on my own. In my late teens, I had to be very independent and learn how to deal with all my own paperwork and learn how to cut through red tape, specifically being in foster care and working with the state.
One of the biggest things that my foster dad taught me was to utilize my resources to get things for free. There was a wide bank of resources and he encouraged me to seek them out. I asked for tutors when I was struggling in my classes. I figured out what sort of scholarship programs there were at my school. [Now] I’m really good at searching for things. I’m really a stickler for getting stuff used or free.
You also connected with an organization called Juma, offering foster youth employment and skill-building opportunities. Tell us about it.
It was my first job, my first experience with making money. The program required us to take financial literacy training, so I learned about credit and the difference between banks and credit unions and different types of financial accounts. We also did a lot of workshops around credit, mock interviews, how to make a resume, and how to build a LinkedIn account.
I was really spoiled by that program because I had employers that really cared about me and taught me my rights as an employee. A lot of people don’t get that at their first job, specifically learning about your rights and encouraging you to stand up for those.
Juma filled the hole in my education that high school should have fulfilled. I have a really rounded education on how to survive as an adult because of Juma.
What advice would you give someone in foster care?
There are so many services and programs, especially for people in Washington state and even more so in King County. So definitely find resources and get in contact with an adult who can inspire you to dream and can help serve you for whatever your dreams are.
This article is one piece of our special series on foster and kinship care, highlighting the voices and experiences of foster youth, caregivers, and communities supporting them. Explore the full series to read more of these important stories.
Unsung Heroes: Caring for kids who aren’t their own | Across Washington, tens of thousands of kids are being raised by grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other relatives — often without formal foster care support. As the state prioritizes keeping families together, kinship caregivers are filling the gap, frequently at great personal cost. Explore how policy shifts, community programs, and grassroots resilience are changing the face of caregiving and the future for these children.
Treehouse builds brighter futures for foster kids in Washington | What happens when foster youth are met not with barriers, but with opportunity and support? Treehouse has spent decades answering that question — and changing lives in the process. As this one-of-a-kind program faces major funding cuts, its mission has never been more urgent.
How we became licensed foster parents in Washington | One family’s year-long journey to become a licensed foster parent — filled with paperwork, training, and plenty of heart — offers a firsthand look at the process. From orientation to their first placement, their story sheds light on the realities of stepping into foster care.
