Ashley Nicole Strickland                                              Memories of Ashley

Ashley Nicole Strickland was born on August 24, 1986 in Jacksonville, Florida and tragically died from an unintentional self inflicted injury on May 4, 2007 at the age of 20.

Ashley was a victim of abuse as a child and came into State’s custody at the age of 12. Her years as a child that lead up to her removal were filled with disappointment, neglect, sadness, distrust and denial of childhood dreams. She was a shy, scared youth who trusted no one. So much pain and emotional distress left this beautiful soul with anguish that she felt that she was still a burden to the ones who loved her.

After several years in foster care, Ashley was adopted by DeBorah Wilder, the Executive Director of Ashley Strickland’s Children Corporation, on April 28, 2004. Once adopted, Ashley was surrounded by love, understanding, support and friends who came to love and honor her diligence and bravery to still stand strong after everything she had endured through her younger years. Over the next 3 years she developed into a beautiful, free-spirited young woman.

Ashley developed trust and was able to express her confidence again in the things she loved such as basketball, writing poems, building friendships. Ashley then ventured out and began a career in modeling. Ashley was like a magnet, no one person was ever a stranger. She believed in random acts of kindness and truly believed that people crossed her path in life for a specific reason, and a lesson was to be learned.

The goal in creating a non-profit organization in Ashley's honor is to carry out the dream that Ashley had in helping the youth that are developing into young adults while they are in foster care. Not all of the children in foster care are in homes that provide unconditional love, trust and stability that are needed to build the confidence to become strong, trusting individuals in society.

This organization will provide the elements and skills needed for this select group of individuals to become successful, educated and confident to adjust into the real world and adapt to independent living.

This web site, our staff and all who work with the Ashley Strickland’s Children Corporation (ASCC) are dedicated to the individuals who have experienced life in foster care or in the juvenile system and have survived! We believe every youth in our program has value and can be contributing members to society.