MILWAUKEE - Nineteen-year-old Marquise Walker's childhood was characterized by abuse, neglect and abandonment. He grew up in a series of Milwaukee foster homes.

"I really didn't like being in foster care," Marquise said as he held his new baby boy, also Marquise. "Foster care ain't really all its cracked up to be."

Marquise got fed up with foster care by the time he was 17. He launched out on his own.

He soon realized he didn't have a clue how to operate in the real world.

He knew nothing about managing his money.

He had no idea how to apply for a job.

He'd never been taught the importance of a firm handshake.

It is a scenario all to common among young people when they age out of foster care. Many foster children are simply warehoused during their childhood. They don't learn the life skills they'll need at 18.

That is why James Pekrul founded the Foster Youth Independence Center in Milwaukee. A product himself of a series of Milwaukee foster homes, he knows what its like to be dumped on the street unprepared at 18.

"When I turned 18, foster care came to an end." Pekrul said haltingly. "The payments, the checks stopped. And, I was asked to leave."

Through the Foster Youth Independence Center, Pekrul helps young people aging out of foster care. The program pays their living expenses while teaching them important life skills. That is making a big difference for Marquise Walker.

"The program is really helping us a lot," Walker said referring to his girlfriend. "I really don't know where me or my girlfriend would be. We probably wouldn't be together now."

Because they are together and getting help, Marquise is hopeful their son won't end up in foster care. The program has given him a sense of optimism lacking earlier in his life.

"I want to give him some of the things we never had," Marquise said looking into his son's brown eyes. "Make sure he don't have to go through foster care like I did. Maybe that will teach him that his father maybe wasn't nobody. I want him to know that I am somebody trying to teach him what to do."

Pekrul would like to get involved in the lives of foster children long before they are poised to enter the real world. He believes mentoring needs to start when foster youth are still young.

"They are children," Pekrul said firmly. "They were raised in the system and they've come to depend on that system. Now all of a sudden at 18, that system is no longer there."

Pekrul maintains foster children become destitute and homeless in large numbers because they are too often warehoused instead of parented.

"It must make more sense now to work with them while they're still in foster care," Pekrul said. "Make an investment now so long term there will be less of a burden to society."