Meet Romero, the Artist Who Designed the Revision Artwork and Logo

Hello, my name is Romero Smith and I attend the Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA). I'm currently pursuing a Bachelors degree in Animation, Motion Graphics, and Game design. Reaching this point in my life was not as easy as it sounds. There was a major obstacle that I had to face head on and overcome, by this I mean being a child in the foster care system.

Foster care was not peaches and cream, like some of the different agencies try to convey. Have been a child in the system I know firsthand how that system works. One way that they can improve the outcomes for foster care youth is by showing more compassion towards them.

Love plays huge role in being a great worker, supervisor and also foster parent. Communication needs to increase between youth, foster parents and the social workers. This is why I decided to speak out on behalf of the foster children who haven't been heard:

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,

for the rights of all who are destitute." ~ Proverbs 31:8

I'm a representative of the Cuyahoga County youth advisory board - otherwise known as the Teen Advocate Group (TAG). We try to help improve the communication between the teens in the foster care, foster parents and social workers. Our group is dedicated to advocate for teens' rights and responsibilities. One of our goals is to prepare teens for life after foster care.

Poem by Kennishewa Lewis-Page

When you look at me, what do you see?
The eye can only see skin deep.

When people look at me,
Complexion, my hair, my eyes,
That's all they can see.

The surface of what they think is me.
A smile, assumption of the beauty inside of me.

When you look at me,
There is so much you dont see.
The natural eye can only see so deep.

When I look at me,
What do I see?
Hurt, guilt, disaster,
Not the way life is supposed to be...

Hidden deep, wide and continuously,
I don't even FEEL,
Hear, touch, see, sense, invisible...
Will it ever heal?

When people look at me;
Hear with the ear, feel with the heart,
Deceiving mind, it's been from the start.

A smile, my clothes, my beauty...
It's only skin deep.