CHARLOTTE — A special wish is at the top of the Christmas list for one boy spending this holiday season in foster care.
If you ask 16-year-old Aiden what’s on his list, he’ll simply tell you, “a bike and a gaming system, like Xbox.”
But at the top is a gift money can’t buy.
“I would like to get adopted,” Aiden told Channel 9′s Almiya White. “I would like for family, just caring and loving like I’ve never had before.”
Aiden is one of the many kids in the Children’s Home Society foster care system.
“I came into foster care when I was 7, and I had a long journey from there,” Aiden said. “I’ve been into, I want to say seven foster homes. So I’ve been bouncing around ever since I was 7.”
Now he’s just two years shy from aging out of the foster care system.
“I don’t want to age out and don’t want to have nobody to call,” Aiden said.
Liz Mincey, a child-focused recruiter with Children’s Home Society of North Carolina, says aging out can be “super terrifying.”
“For most kids, they don’t have a safety net. Think about how you were when you were 18. Were you ready to live on your own? And most of our kids are not,” Mincey told White.
Mincey says she’s spent the last year and a half working to get Aiden to his forever home.
“Aiden is an amazing kid, he has had a difficult journey, but he’s so loving,” Mincey said.
And Aiden’s hobbies are just like any other teenager’s.
“I like to ride bikes, I like playing sports, I like going on vacations,” Aiden said.
He says he’s looking for a family who will be there for him through thick and thin.
“Not everybody has a supporting and loving family, and some people need that,” Aiden said.
Mincey says precious moments often taken for granted are moments that kids like Aiden often go without.
“Somewhere where they can go for Christmas, someone, a family to invite to their wedding, and all those important milestones,” Mincey said.
As far as Aiden, he says he knows his forever family is out there, but until the day he meets them, he’s holding on to one thing.
“There’s always hope.”
If you’re looking to grow your family through adoption, you’re encouraged to reach out to the Children’s Home Society of North Carolina at this link.
(VIDEO: Charlotte teen’s love for Christmas helps raise money for charity)
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