There are more than 700 children who are ready for adoption in Virginia. They are ready to find a permanent and loving forever family. 10 News is profiling one child who needs a home every day during the hours of 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. in 30 Days of Hope. The children are all ages and races and were put into foster care due to no fault of their own. 2022 marks the sixth year 10 News is doing this series.
Lilly has been in foster care since she was 6 years old, and what she wants more than anything is to find a forever family to call her own. The 12-year-old is smart, curious and brave, and she works hard in school and loves learning new things.
“My favorite thing in the whole universe is flowers and creating different masterpieces. My favorite flowers are water lilies. I was named after them,” she said. “I like myself because I’m really artistic. I’ve loved making my own things. I love flowers. I love how nature just grows in different ways. My friends would say I’m nice and kind for helping them out when they need it.”
One of her favorite things to do is to spend time outside, especially on the playground and going horseback riding.
“I want to be a professional mermaid when I grow up because I already know how to swim, go underwater, dive. Even though I may have asthma I can go in the deep end,” she explained.
She loves playing with Barbies, dolls, Legos, and all things mermaids and unicorns!
“If I have wishes, 1-3 get myself a canopy bed because I love myself a canopy bed just having those curtains that I can decorate on top of it and that would be nice. Lots and lots of candy. A secret room in my closet so I could hide all my candy in there so instead of studying, I could study in there and afterward just have fun.”
She’s been in foster care for half her life and wants a family that’s “kind, loving, smart, people that actually care and don’t just boss us around but also care for us by helping us when we fall down.”
Lilly loves dancing, listening to music and a math video game called Prodigy. Lilly also enjoys watching television and one of her favorite shows is called Descendants. She would also never turn down a Shamrock Shake, McDonald’s fries or a bag of salt & vinegar potato chips! She also loves mac & cheese and chicken nuggets.
She is also a big sister, and she loves spending time with her little sister who has already been adopted. Lily would do best in a home with parent(s) who are able to spend plenty of bonding time with her, ideally without younger children. Lily has a lot of love to give, and she needs a family who will provide her with the love and support she deserves. Lily says what she wants more than anything is to find a forever family to call her own. Could you be the family that Lilly has been waiting for?
If you have questions about Lilly or foster care/adoption, contact VDSS Division of Family Services Adoption Recruitment Coordinator, at adoptioninquiries@dss.virginia.gov.
You can see more about her here. I Belong Project™ videos are a project of Virginia’s Kids Belong in cooperation with America’s Kids Belong.
To see other 30 Days of Hope stories visit us here.
We also have a list of frequently asked questions about foster care and adoption including the qualifications, cost, and training required in this link.