MONTGOMERY — On the first New Year’s Eve she hadn’t worked in five years, Brigette Dechant sat back in her red evening dress and marveled at the spectacle of loved ones sitting all around her.
An inaugural recipient of the 2013 Light of Hope — Former Foster Care Legacy Award, Dechant, whose mother was sent to prison when she was only 6 years old, and whose father died when she was 4, is a winning product out of the state foster care system.
“On a daily basis, I have so much to be grateful for,” Dechant said. “There are so many people who have uplifted me, and helped me reach my potential.”
Now a college graduate, and a legislative assistant in Austin, Dechant, 24, was born in Humble, and lived with a foster family in Kingwood for a time, before being sent off to live with an aunt in Orange County, Calif.
Things quickly soured and CPS case workers in California were forced to remove Brigette from her aunt’s home.
She was sent to live in Austin where she began to thrive, starting, and later graduating from Austin High School. Dechant earned a bachelor’s degree from Texas State. Right out of college she landed a sought-after job as a legislative assistant with Texas Star Alliance in Austin.
The first day on the job at Texas Star Alliance, Dechant was tapped to be the liaison between her new employer and an organization dedicated to foster children, she said.
“I think God is working right now before our eyes,” Dechant said.
Mentors, including Janet (Thompson) Randolph, Addrianna Alura and Chad Pantella, were just some of the dedicated caregivers who believed in her.
“These were people who saw me through tough times, and still looked at me and thought: ‘We just know she will become something,’” Dechant said.
With several of her mentors, her boss, and her boyfriend sitting by her side around the table on New Year’s Eve, Dechant was overwhelmed with gratitude, she said.
“Brigette was selected for this honor because of her personal and professional achievements, leadership, and integrity she exhibits as a role model, and a champion in the pursuit of excellence that she has shown as a former child within the Texas foster care system,” said Terri Jaggers, president of the Child Welfare Board in Montgomery County.
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