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Foster Children “Just Want a Family”

Posted at 10:10 PM, May 09, 2014
and last updated 2014-10-10 20:55:59-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (May 9, 2014) - Michael and Nolan are your average 15-and-12-year-old boys. They like sports, swimming, and Lego's.

But they’ll quickly tell you about their biggest passion.

“I would really love to be adopted,” Nolan says.

He and Michael are just two of the 3,000 children in the foster system at any given time, according to numbers from the State of Michigan.

Some of those children live in foster homes, some in residential facilities - all hoping to one day find a family.

“I’m sick and tired of being in placement and being in foster homes,” Nolan says.

“I just want a family.”

There’s no mom to dry tears and make hurt feelings go away; no dad to teach them how to ride a bike so they can roll around the neighborhood, taking their minds off any worries.

Nolan says he’s been in foster homes, but doesn’t like them - because he eventually has to leave.

Orchards Children’s Services reached out to FOX 17 - hoping that our viewers may have a home for each of the boys.

Most of the youth still waiting to be adopted are teenagers.

As these boys age, their chances of being adopted dramatically decrease.

“Sometimes families don’t like the older kids,” Nolan says. “They like the little kids because they think they’re cute, and they’d rather adopt little kids.”

But older children bring their own assets.

“I make my bed, clean my room,” Michael says. “I clean my dressers and clean clothes - fold my clothes. I put my shoes in a corner nicely.”

Nolan added that he gets good grades and that his favorite subject in school is science.

The boys aren’t picky with their requests; they just want the promise of forever.

“A family I can live with forever until I’m old and I can go off on my own, instead of moving from foster home to foster home and residential to residential, “ Nolan says. “That just gets kinda stupid.”

Michael says he wants to be with a family who takes care of each other.

Both boys say they’ll fit into any home nicely, though they do dream of what most of us take for granted.

“I want a couple brothers and sisters,” Michael says, “and I want a dog and a cat probably.”

But more than anything, they just want to be loved and cared for - like every child deserves.

“Please. Pretty please with sugar on top,” Nolan says with a smile. “That’s what I would be like to someone who was thinking about adopting me. That’s how grateful I would be for someone adopting me because I really want to be adopted.”

Nolan and Michael would age out of the foster care system and be on their own by age 18.

If you’d like to adopt them or another child call 855-694-7301.