A 26-year-old California college student from a broken home has put up an ad on Craigslist looking to rent a loving family for the holidays.
Jackie Turner, of Rocklin, wrote in her touching notice: 'I am looking to rent a mom and dad who can give me attention and make me feel like the light of their life just for a couple of days because I really need it.’
Turner, who is estranged from her biological parents, offered prospective candidates willing to play the roles of her parents $8 an hour for their services.
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Looking for love: College student Jackie Turner, 26, posted an ad On Craigslist seeking to rent a family for the holidays at $8 an hour. She has since received dozens of responses from people willing to take her in for free
Looking at the jovial, straight-A student from William Jessup University, it is hard to imagine the strife she had seen in her 26 years.
Rough start: Turner had been physically and sexually abused as a child and in her teens led a life on the streets, which eventually resulted in an arrest on a grand theft charge
Turner had been physically, sexually and emotionally abused since she was a little girl.
To escape the violence at home, Turner spent years living on the streets, where she had picked up a drug habit and found herself in a gang.
Jackie was eventually arrested for grand theft and served nearly a year behind bars - an outcome that marked a turning point in her life.
Upon her release in 2010, Jackie decided to go to a religious camp for troubled teens called Christina Encounter Ministries.
Three years later, Turner is a presidential scholar at William Jessup boasting a 4.0 GPA. She also plays soccer on the school team.
Despite her successes, Jackie says she still has a deep void inside her that she feels only a family could fill – even a rented one.
‘My biological parents aren't here, and it's kept this hole inside of me,’ Turner said.
So Turner came up with the idea to lease a family for the holiday season so she could have someone who would listen to her and cry with her - no strings attached.
Dozens of families have responded to the heart-breaking plea, offering to take Turner in free of charge.
Turner's bold decision to go public with her pain and longing for a family also struck a chord with other people who had suffered abuse.
The college student has been receiving emails from men and women openly discussing their
childhood traumas.
‘People are out there with the same heart inside of them,’ she said. ‘Some of them with a greater drive then mine.’
Jackie is now hoping to arrange a meeting for all the people who have answered her ad so that no one would be alone this holiday season.
Source:DailymailUk
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