An Invisible Child, A Fearless Woman

At 8 months old Jackie Turner was sold by her birth mother for 1,000 dollars so she could get drugs. In her desperation, she got Jackie back then traded her for a house. Eventually Jackie was taken and placed in a home with a new family. This family would beat her, lock her in closets, and starve her.

At age 9 Jackie was abandoned and left for 2 hours sitting on social services stairs with a garbage bag full of her clothes, learning the family she thought was her family, was actually not. Through the power of resilience Jackie pushed on. Jackie spent two years in foster care. Then was placed with her birth father who would abuse her from sun up to sun down. A knick in her eyebrow, a chunk missing from her lip, from where she had been punched in the face over and over again, until her teeth punctured her lip. This was the life of a young girl who hadn't even reached 17.

By age 17 she began running away. However the temporary freedom led to needing a counselor to determine the extent of her pain and why she was running. Instead of getting to the root of her pain, the counselor caused more when he became sexually abusive with the minor. In a time of innocence, Jackie learned the world was not. By the end of her 17th year of life, Jackie was placed by the state in the care of her uncle. Her uncle and aunt were going through a rough patch after 2 years, and the one stable family Jackie knew broke apart through divorce.

Jackie searching for family hung out with gang bangers, but by the grace of God never was jumped into the lifestyle. Then after experiencing the loss of a family member to SIDS, Jackie was broken. At age 19 she experienced a run in with the law, after friends conspired to fight a kid from school. She knew she had to clean up her life, and figure out a way to change the cycle. Jackie went to a program for homeless kids. She did the hard work and changed her story and the trajectory of her life.

Up to that point Jackie was the invisible kid worthy of abuse, abandonment, and a lack of love. She was the forgotten one, who forgot no one. Though she had been hurt again and again, within her was a deep and profound love to help others not face the same. So after leaving the program for teens, Jackie worked 4 jobs and went to community college. With a 4.0 Jackie was able to transfer to a 4 year private university where she got her Bachelors degree. While she worked on her bachelor's degree she worked with gang kids, adopted kids with behavioral disabilities, and low income kids. She taught them martial arts, how to create poetry and music, tutored them, and loved them. She did everything she could to give them the love, support and ability to know that they were seen by her. They were not invisible.

During her time at college and serving teens and kids, Jackie reached out about her own need for family. Her story went worldwide, and a movie was produced to share her story of defying the odds. She began writing for Adoption.Com to over 4 million readers worldwide. Her film inspired people across the globe that still write to her this day. Jackie went on to Seminary and graduated in 2019 with her Masters Degree.

Jackie has been working currently to provide homeless women and children with cottages and helping them break their cycle through a unique approach of transforming from the inside out, and helping them defy and tear down every barricade against them. With a 91 percent rate of ending homelessness and a 97 percent rate of mother's bringing home their kids from foster care, the work Jackie does is a success. She also still works with adopted youth giving them hope, and she runs a youth alternative to bring bullied kids together to build community.

Jackie came from a legacy of being sold, beaten, starved, and locked and closets. Yet her legacy for others, is love, and breakthrough. She has defied the odds. She us to be invisible, but she is not anymore. I should know, because I am Jackie.