Hundreds of kids are waiting in foster care hoping to be adopted. We at KARK are hoping to help these kids find loving homes through our Wednesday’s Child Series.
Whether it’s hunting, fishing, or exploring the woods for anything that swims or slithers, 13-year-old Gabriel loves to be outdoors.
While he has a passion for nature and creatures, what he would love most is a place to call home. Gabriel is currently in the Arkansas foster care system and up for adoption.
KARK 4 News anchor Laura Monteverdi spent the day with him at the Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center in Little Rock. Not only was he a great teacher, but Gabriel is also curious about everything.
Lately, though, his life has been filled with more questions than answers.
“‘You’re thinking, ‘What did I do wrong?’ ‘Am I going to jail?’ You don’t know what’s happening,” he said.
Gabriel was put into the foster care system when he was 11. Since then, he said he has felt like a fish out of water.
“It’s sad because you are moving house to house,” he explained. “You don’t know where you’re going, and you just like got tooken (sic) away from your parents, and you can’t even figure out why, and you just went through all that hard stuff and now you’re going through even more hard stuff.”
As confident as Gabriel is in his ability to tame a serpent, he is also certain of what he wants in his forever family, one that “could provide a roof over my head, clothes on my back and food in my stomach.”
He also said he would love to live in a place where he can continue to explore.
Gabriel: “Probably not in the city, but where there are woods, lots of woods, to hang out and build in and climb trees break an arm or a leg.”
Laura: “You want to break an arm or a leg?”
Gabriel: “Well, if it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger!”
He is hopeful that just like the creatures at the nature center have found a new home, one day he will, too.
“Anything is possible through God,” Gabriel said. “I put all my stuff in His hands and I think He’s got a pretty good grip on it.”
If you’re interested in adopting Gabriel, or any of the children we’ve featured in our Wednesday’s Child segments, visit TheProjectZero.org.
