Tiffany Haddish Reflects On Growing Up in Foster Care, Says She Thought She “Was Going To Die There”

Tiffany Haddish reflected on her time in the foster care system as a child.

Haddish recently spoke in a keynote conversation for the Variety Changemakers Summit. During the discussion, she opened up about her childhood growing up in foster care. The “she ready” comedian was placed into the system while her mom struggled with mental illness after a car accident left her with brain damage.

“When I was in foster care, I mean, I thought I was going to die there,” Haddish said. “I didn’t think I would make it to 18. And when I made it to 18, I was like, ‘OK, I got to really think bigger.’ And I did think bigger, and I’m definitely where I thought I would be. Well, it’s bigger than what I thought.”

Later, Haddish discussed the pits of being in the foster care system and how it affected her health and self-image.

“When I was a kid, and I was moving around, all my stuff had to be in trash bags,” she added. “Moving like that is not good for the self-esteem. It makes you feel like garbage that can easily be transported to here or there. You start thinking of yourself as such, as garbage. That was the worst feeling in the world personally, and I told myself if I ever get any power, I’m going to try to make sure kids don’t feel like that.”

To accomplish this, Haddish created the “She Ready Foundation” to remove the feeling of feeling like garbage away from kids.” The foundation is a non-profit that gives suitcases to foster children and connects them with internship programs.