ROANOKE, Va. – 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.
“I like to read and figure skate. I like cheerleading. I like to do my makeup,” said Axle who also likes changing up his hair. “I like to play with my hair a lot. I like to change it like every single day and I dye it all the time. I have a new hair color every month. I kind of just do whatever I can with it because I cut it a lot.”
His favorite subject is English.
“I’m pretty good at it. I’ve always been in AP English,” said the 14-year-old. “I kind of just read any book that looks interesting to me. I don’t really read the back. I kind of just look at the front and if I like it, I’ll just read it.”
His favorite book is The Lovely Bones. After school, it’s off to cheer practice several days a week.
“I’m really good at figure skating. I’m good at acrobatics. I think that’s what it’s called. I’m pretty flexible. So I like I can do like dance and stuff,” said Axle, who said he may want to be a professional dancer or something similar.
“Axle is amazing. I’ve known Axle, pretty much since since the day he entered foster care. Very funny. Even though he doesn’t like to show that or admit it. He has his great comedic timing. He’s great at athletics now. And when he’s applying himself, he’s very smart in school, and actually in life too,” said Cory Simmons, who works for the Franklin County Department of Social Services. “I think a great family for Axle would be one that is LGBT friendly, that is very open, accepting and patient. Especially with the older kids, we know that it’s kind of tough to find a home or a permanent home for our foster kids.”
Axle agrees, “I think I would like a family who is super accepting of who I am. Because I’ve had a lot of families who like question everything that I do.”
Belonging means to him, “you really just fit in. Like you don’t really have to try you kind of just are there and nobody questions it.”
He beat me every time we played Connect 4. If he could pick a vacation spot, it would be the beach because he likes to get seashells. The teen likes being outside and hiking.
“I think my perfect day would consistent of me going to the gym and doing like tumbling and stuff. Then going ice skating and then going home and going to sleep.”
If Axle could share anything about children in foster care, “I feel like a lot of them [people] think we’re bad kids, especially the older ones because people think ‘Why are you a teenager and you don’t have a house, you had to do something bad’. But most of the time it’s not like that. We just don’t have a place to go.”
Simmons said more foster families are needed, especially ones that will take children 12 years old and older.
“Every kid deserves a second or sometimes third or fourth chance, especially with the complex trauma history that these kids always typically have,” said Simmons. “He has a great capacity for caring and loving someone, despite everything that he has been through and continues to go through.”
Simmons said Axle is shy at first but then becomes outgoing when he feels comfortable.
If you have questions about Axle or foster care/adoption, contact VDSS Division of Family Services Adoption Recruitment Coordinator, at adoptioninquiries@dss.virginia.gov.
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.