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“No kid should be in the system for 10 years:” Finding a forever home for 14-year-old Cody

Posted at 8:37 PM, Dec 17, 2014
and last updated 2014-12-17 23:24:06-05

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- 14-year-old Cody has already spent a decade in the foster system, but still has hope that the right family is out there for him.

Cody was taken away from his parents when he was four, and he and his three siblings were adopted by his grandparents, But both died unexpectedly within a year and a half.

His three siblings have since been adopted into families, leaving him alone for far too long. It’s been a rough road as Cody has spent the majority of his life tossed around from foster homes to placements.

“Never really had the right family,” he says. “Just was abused.”

“It's not good. No kid should be in the system for 10 years.”

Cody loved playing tennis at MVP Athletic Club, getting fired up -- and even giving the pro there a run for his money.

“I would like a dad to teach me how to play football,” he says. “Throw around a baseball.”

He has sports ambitions for a father and wants lessons on life and love, “how to be a man, how to treat ladies, how to be a gentleman,” Cody says.

And he’s searching for something much deeper from a mother. “A mom to love me, a mom to hold me whenever I get upset."

Easygoing and grateful, Cody’s love of animals has him aspiring to be a veterinarian.

When it comes to a family, he’s asking for nothing more than the simplest things he’s been denied. “Not too picky. I’m not picky at all,” he says. “I need someone who’s loving and caring and kind.”

He's a country music fan, especially Alan Jackson, but not so much Taylor Swift. “All she sings about is her boyfriend, so, not much of a Taylor Swift person,” he says jokingly.

Cody loves to sing and, even though he's shy, if he could sing one song, it’s one that rings true of his 10-year journey in search of someone who cares.

“God Bless the Broken Road,” he says. “I’m hoping for someone to come out of their kind heart and adopt me.”

Adopting any child through the Michigan Foster System comes at absolutely no cost.

If you’re interested in adopting Cody or any other youth from the Michigan Foster System, call Orchards Children’s Services at 855-694-7301.