Awakening: How ‘ordinary’ foster parents redirected one teen’s future

As 19-year-old Adavia tells her remarkable journey from being a troubled teen surviving on the streets in Knoxville to a responsible young lady today about to start cosmetology school, she mentions the word ordinary.

Her foster parents, Malcom and Bridgett Crawford, provided her with a safe space when they took her in when she was 14.

Adavia, who recently started cosmetology school, was 16 and living on the streets before becoming part of Malcom and Bridgett Crawford’s home where she found routine, care and purpose.

So too did they give her love. But it was the ability of the couple to provide normalcy that was perhaps needed the most, Adavia says, simply because it was completely foreign.

“They are good parents with good advice. But they were regular people who gave me room to be myself,” she explained.

The Crawfords, both pastors now living in Covington, Tenn., had parented three relative’s children and when they became adults and moved out, their home became abruptly quiet.

Because one of the three youths was a foster child, it piqued their curiosity about fostering themselves. They reached out to Meritan.

Adavia was one of the available first foster children they considered. When she moved in, the transition was very challenging, they said, for all of them, because she resisted.

“Adavia was rough around the edges, with a temper,” Malcom said. She had been arrested for stealing a car and had been involved with drugs to a certain extent.

The Crawfords, both pastors, said when their foster teen moved into their home, it took time for the 16-year-old overcame resistance to their discipline and parenting structure.

But she was missing compassion and direction, and the Crawford’s home was full of it, including structure and demands for both school and church attendance.

Adavia noticed quickly after settling in that the Crawfords were not of her orbit.

“They don’t curse and that flabbergasted me, honestly,” she said.

She slowly conformed to the couple’s routine, with help from counseling. She then realized – “opened her eyes,” is how Bridgett described it - what could be ahead for her.

After waking up from a “spiritual dream,” Adavia spontaneously gave her testimony later during church service. She then focused on making exceptional grades at school - graduating early - then landing a job and saving enough money to purchase a car.

Something else also happened along the way: The Crawfords learned to fully trust her.

“Adavia took a hard look at her life and realized she could have ended up like the kids she once hung around, many who were killed,” Bridgett said. “She accepted responsibility and has taken control of her future.”