Foster family transforms teen's life amid North Carolina foster care crisis

Jerrie and Daniel Teague have been foster parents for 11 years. They are urging other families to become a foster parent.

Author: Taylor Leverett Published: 4:06 PM EST February 26, 2025. Updated: 5:41 PM EST February 26, 2025.

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BURLINGTON, N.C. — There is a need for more foster parents in North Carolina. 

In fact, Black and Brown youth are aging out of our state's foster care system with many of them having nowhere to go.

That was almost the case for one Alamance County teenager until he met a family that changed his life forever.

Jerrie and Daniel Teague have been fostering 50 kids over 11 years.
"We started because we want to grow our family ultimately but then we just continued, I kind of felt like it was calling," Jerrie Teague said. 

Their son 'Mez' or Daniel Teague was recently adopted. The now 19-year-old came to the Teague family at just 16-years-old.

Mez says before meeting the Teague's he was a troubled kid. 

“I had got out of juvenile detention like right after my 16th birthday and then I had I was in a high speed chase with some old friends and then the car had crashed and then afterwards the police had arrested had like arrested us all and then I had to, I really had no one to like come get me like no one was really able to come get me," Daniel Teague said. 

After being arrested, he had no where to go but the foster care system. Sadly, Mez was turned down by 25 families that is until he met the Teague's.

“I remember when they walked in here for the first time he looked around and he said “My brother was right” and I asked him "Right about what?" and he said "my brother said foster care was going to be the best thing that ever happened to me,” she said. 

Mez's story is a true testimony but not a reality for every foster child. 

According to the Foster Family Alliance of North Carolina (FFA), one in five youth become homeless within a day of aging out the system. Mom Jerrie is a regional leader with the FFA she says the need is great.

“When Covid hit, we lost probably a third of our families in the state and the kids didn't stop coming, but we didn't have as many homes, so we have a huge need, especially for teens,” Jerrie said. 

Mez says he hopes to become a homeowner one day soon. He says thanks to his new family he has learned to save and invest for the future.