When Justus Kelley arrived in Miami last week to compete for the title of Miss USA, she was Miss Virginia USA. And some of her luggage was packed in black trash bags.
The Arlington resident, 31, deliberately brought the bags as luggage. They represented something she had seen firsthand as a foster parent: children arriving at a new home carrying their belongings in garbage bags.
“The trash bags I carry reflect a reality far too many foster children know all too well,” Kelley wrote on Instagram. “A trash bag should never be a child’s suitcase. Every foster child deserves to carry their belongings with dignity — And I need you to help me make that possible.”
Making Miss USA History
On Thursday, the former Miss Virginia USA was crowned Miss USA 2026. She’s the first mother and first married woman to win the title in the pageant’s 75-year history. She is also the first woman in her 30s to hold the crown.
For Kelley, the victory gives a national audience to an issue that has become deeply personal. Kelley and her husband, Tyler, are foster parents and founders of Foster Footprints. The nonprofit is focused on empowering foster youth in the District, Maryland, and Virginia. The couple has welcomed children ranging in age from 7 months to 10 years into their home.
A Life of Philanthropy
Kelley has spent much of her professional life working in philanthropy and community engagement. She is a senior philanthropic adviser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Arlington, where she works with major donors to support the hospital’s mission.
Before joining St. Jude, she worked in healthcare philanthropy at UVA Health and held fundraising and volunteer-engagement positions with Make-A-Wish in Virginia and Indiana. That background makes her Miss USA platform a natural extension of work she has already been doing for years.
Foster Care Awareness
Her campaign to replace trash bags with suitcases for foster children grew out of her own experience. Kelley has said she wants to make sure no child entering her home — or any foster home — has to use a garbage bag to carry their possessions.
“What started as a trip packed in trash bags became something so much bigger: a reminder that we can all play a role in making sure foster children have their basic needs met with dignity,” Kelley wrote last week. “I’m determined to make sure no child ever enters my home again with their belongings in a trash bag.”
The Miss USA organization changed its rules three years ago to allow mothers to compete. The competition also eliminated its age restriction, opening the competition to women 18 and older. Kelley’s victory marks the first time a mother has been crowned Miss USA.
“This is only the beginning,” she wrote on social media last week, promising more details about how people can join her effort to provide foster children with basic necessities.
“What is going to Miss USA,” she asked in a social media post before the competition, “if not for raising awareness of issues that matter?”
Feature photo courtesy Miss USA
