Stories of local foster youth in Trauma to Hope exhibit now on display in Santa Ynez

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It was past midnight when a 9-year-old girl living in Santa Maria found herself crying in the back of a police car. She felt swallowed up by the dark seats; the bars made her feel small and scared. Earlier, she had escaped her abusive home, crawling on all fours to the back gate, praying, then bolting through it and pounding on the next-door neighbor’s house, knowing a detective lived there. Instead of soundly sleeping and dreaming, she was then questioned and examined by detectives and ushered to a temporary foster home. 

“Do you believe in God?” the two police officers asked her, before dropping her off at her new unknown home. 

“Yes,” she responded. 

“Would you mind if we said a prayer with you?” they replied, soon speaking one of protection and love into the night. Before driving away, they placed a teddy bear into her trembling hands—leaving her with a beacon of hope in such a confusing and scary time. 

“I’ll never forget their faces, and I’ve thought of them often over the years,” Jessica Salutan, now 52, said of the officers who consoled her. 

Her story of entering the foster care system 43 years ago is one of the many firsthand experiences on display now through July 26 at the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum, in an exhibit called From Trauma to Hope: Stories of Foster Care. 

Spearheading the exhibit is Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Santa Barbara County—­­a local nonprofit organization that trains volunteers to advocate for the health and safety of children experiencing abuse or neglect. Of the eight former foster youth featured in the exhibit, many were matched at a young age with CASA advocates, who became consistent mentors in their lives during times when they were moving from home to home and navigating uncertain and lonely years.

The exhibit’s goal is twofold: to spotlight the powerful and vulnerable stories of foster youth, giving the community a glimpse into their experiences, and to advocate for greater community involvement and support for CASA’s work.

“This exhibit reminds us that history isn’t just about the past. It’s about the people and experiences shaping our communities today,” said Krissy Castillo, executive director of the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum. 

To get the intended experience, visitors start in the exhibit’s first room, which begins with trauma. Stories, letters, photographs, and memorabilia lead viewers to the second room, which ends with hope and a “Take Action” wall with 30 tangible ways anyone can make a difference in the lives of local foster youth, including becoming a CASA volunteer—there are currently 81 children in the county’s foster care system waiting for an advocate—fulfilling a foster child’s Christmas wish list, or supporting drug prevention programs for youth.

Now aged out of the foster care system and in their adult years, many of the individuals featured in the exhibit have since taken action by stepping into roles as youth mentors, supporters for local foster youth, or CASA volunteers. 

Estefany Can, whose experiences are featured in the exhibit, entered the foster care system at age 6, leaving behind her brothers who, she said, were always her source of comfort. 

Overwhelmed by loneliness and coping with the separation from her siblings, Can discovered the world of books, and “with every flip of a page I could escape my reality and step into another, where the stories became my sanctuary and inspiration,” she wrote on a plaque near her display at the museum.

Showcased in the exhibit are poems she wrote between the ages of 8 and 12 that “capture the heart of a little girl searching for safety and belonging in an ever-changing, often dangerous system.”

One poem, written in her pink and blue fluffy diary adorned with gold stars begins: “A different house./ A different room./ A different bed.”

It ends with a similar repetition: “The same wish./ The same fear./ The same system.”

Writing, Can said, became her refuge, “a way to soothe the deep undercurrents of anxiety, depression, and never-ending isolation.” It also afforded her, as she wrote, “the power to write my own story and to control the outcomes in a world where I otherwise had little control.”

During her time in foster care, Jojo Murdock didn’t have a CASA advocate, but she’s still felt called to return and serve the community she was from. For the last 20 years, she has spent her time in social work. In 2022, Murdock launched Awakening Giantz, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting young adults exiting the foster care system and providing them with resources, workshops, and a community to belong to. 

One of her pieces displayed at the Trauma to Hope exhibit is a large cartoon depicting her challenges living with a bipolar-schizophrenic mother and later how her stuffed teddy bear provided comfort as she was shuttled by police officers to a foster home. It’s one story featured in a series of four comic books her organization created, called Awakening Stories.

“My hope is for people to realize we were vulnerable with intention and with purpose,” Murdock said of the former foster youth who shared their stories in the exhibit. “The fact that we get to choose how to tell our story is imperative.” 

The idea for an exhibit of this nature came to CASA’s executive director, Kim Davis, during a conference, where she saw a small, similar display showcasing former foster youth’s stories. Davis said she vowed to some day find a way to put on an exhibit for the community in Santa Barbara County.

It launched in Santa Maria last October and has since moved around the county to Lompoc and Santa Ynez, and it’s planned to be displayed in Santa Barbara this winter.  

“Every single time, it has been an emotional journey of revisiting the stories and handling them with the care and compassion that they deserve,” said Crystal Sullins, CASA’s donor relations and grants manager.

“Unless you’ve walked in someone else’s shoes, it’s hard to understand,” Sullins said. “So many of us, myself included, have never been in foster care. But I feel so much compassion, and I want them to have the best possible outcomes given their circumstances.”

Calendar Editor Angie Stevens is a beacon. Reach her at astevens@newtimesslo.com.

This article appears in Jul 24 – Aug 3, 2025.