GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- In Michigan alone, more than 3,000 childrenare living in foster care and hoping to be adopted. As FOX 17 continues our Forever Home series, we introduce you to Renae, who is also featured in an ArtPrize exhibit raising foster care awareness.
“It’s worth waiting for," Renae said to FOX 17 as she walked through the exhibit near the fish ladder. She was talking about finding the right family.
She's patient and has stayed positive waiting almost six years to find her forever family, living in and out of foster care.
“I just push through it, although it’s really complicated sometimes, I just know that I’m going to make it," said Renae.
Far from camera shy, 11-year-old Renae is radiant. She's the focal photograph in the exhibit Be the Turning Point: a chalkboard pictured before her that asks, "will you be my turning point?"
She's in the sixth grade this year and Renae is a top student. She loves math and science and also is an athlete who loves playing football, basketball, and plans to try out for the soccer team this spring.
Thinking ahead, she shared a few ideas for her future: "A brain surgeon, a lawyer, [or] a veterinarian.”
When times get tough, it's nature and laughter Renae turns to.
“I like when my best friends make me laugh, and I like being my class clown, that makes me really happy," she said.
It's this self-confidence and belief in herself that Renae says will get her to become part of the family she's meant to be with.
“I’m really happy that I’ve gotten this path from God," said Renae. "It’s been really awesome and incredible that I get to be in ArtPrize. Even though I’m still looking for a family, I know it’s going to come, and I’ve been waiting for a permanent family.”
If you want to learn more about Renae story or the adoption process, call her adoption agency Orchards Children's Services at: 1 (855) 694-7301.
