At the age of 14, Fonda Royster was living on the streets of Toledo.

Her situation was so dire, she said she didn’t think she would see her 15th birthday.

“I know how it feels not to have secure and safe housing or food to eat,” Ms. Royster said. “I’m not talking about your favorite granny’s strawberry pie or cookies — like going days without eating and you have to do what you have to do to survive.”

As a survivor of childhood homelessness and neglect, now 43, Ms. Royster is founder and executive director of Open Arms Transformation Living, her work fueled by her personal experience. Her goal is to get to youths early in hopes of avoiding abuse, homelessness, substance abuse, and human trafficking.

The Lucas County Homelessness Board reported that more than 1,600 people experience homelessness in the city of Toledo, including 322 families with children. Some children find themselves homeless while trying to escape child abuse and neglect.

Then a teenager deemed a ward of the court, Ms. Royster said she found herself out on the streets after her reported case of child abuse was closed with no resolution. With a homeless experience that lasted about six months, Ms. Royster said she moved from place to place couch surfing at friends’ homes and while in survival-mode, even resorted to staying with strangers.

“A lot of people don't know Toledo is like the fourth biggest hub of human trafficking in the country,” she said. “So we're teaching healthy relationships because a lot of our girls and young men don't know what it looks like.”

Her group’s Our Voices Matter program works to provide the basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter, but it also teaches general characteristics of healthy relationships with the goal of prevention to falling prey to traffickers and abusers.

“Human trafficking doesn’t discriminate,” Ms. Royster said. “It doesn’t care if you’re in Moody Manor or you’re in the White House because if the child has no validation of themselves, they're more likely to fall a victim.”

Recently at the Lagrange Branch Library in North Toledo, where she meets with teens weekly, Ms. Royster treated a group of girls to a pre-Christmas soul food dinner complete with collard greens, mac and cheese, and valuable discussions about healthy relationships and self-validation.

“We gain knowledge about like what to look for in a relationship, if it's like a bad relationship,” said sixth grader Samantha Crum, 12, who added that the experience has already proven beneficial to her personally.

Also utilizing media sources, Ms. Royster invites the attendees to watch movies regarding domestic violence to help them grasp the seriousness of those situations and also to help them recognize the signs of abuse.

As part of the education, the girls watched the 1996 movie No One Would Tell, which told the story of a high school student's relationship with a popular jock that turned abusive.

“It's a movie where the mother was in the exact same kind of relationship her daughter was in and they were both oblivious to the abuse that their partner was inflicting on them. What I learned was what unhealthy relationships look like and sometimes people [don’t see] it, even though there's scars on their body from that person,” Samantha said.

Katie Midgley, manager at the Lagrange Branch, cited Ms. Royster’s personality as a plus for what she does.

“The head of youth services thought Fonda would be a good fit for Lagrange because her personality works really well with the kids here. She’s got a big personality and people flock to that,” Ms. Midgley said.

She said children are looking for validation and attention and find it easy to talk to her as she meets them on their levels, which align with Ms. Royster's desire to be known as “the community auntie.”

“She’s real with them, and they look up to her as a role model,” Ms. Midgley said. “She brings food, she celebrates with them, so it's not just the heavy stuff, she's excited to talk about all kinds of things with them.”

With more than 20 years of work in social service as a domestic violence resource specialist for Lucas County, Ms. Royster also advocates for families affected by domestic violence.

“I’m trying to get them while they're younger so they don’t have to reach out to me when they’re older,” Ms. Royster said.

Ultimately, through Open Arms Transformation Living, Ms. Royster aims to secure transitional housing for youth who are forgotten and neglected, she said.

“I’m trying to be the second youth shelter in Toledo,” she said. “I’m looking for a fixer-upper to house older youth ages 16 to 20 because those are the ones that get emancipated from foster care and fall through the cracks.”

Until such time, Ms. Royster, through her work, will continue to provide the basic needs and a sense of family to those who are vulnerable.

“I’m letting the girls know they have a right to be loved, to be respected,” she said. “And it doesn't matter your environment, you're still significant.”

First Published December 23, 2023, 8:57 p.m.