SAN ANTONIO – The saying goes, "There's no place like home." But tens of thousands of Texas children have no idea what that means.
Hope For A Home: Meet Javantae
Myra Arthur has started a new series called "Hope for a Home." It introduces viewers to kids who, every day, hope someone out there will find room for them in their homes and hearts.
They're not statistics or pieces of legislation or political issues, they're children.
Meet 15-year-old Erik
Erik takes playing cards with him wherever he goes. They’re a reminder of one of the few happy memories he has with his family. He remembers playing cards with his aunt using laundry detergent bottle caps like poker chips.
Most of the time he spent with his family, he said, he does not think of fondly.
“Me, my mom and my older sister, we were always out on the street,” Erik said.
Now in foster care, Erik has big goals -- even though the deck may have once been stacked against him.
“I want to go to the Marines so I can prove to everybody who said I couldn’t do it -- I can prove them wrong,” he said.
I asked who told him he couldn’t.
“Everybody from the past. My family,” he said. “I just want to prove them wrong and show them that I can do what I want.”
Erik wants to eventually become a K-9 officer.
“Dreams do come true as long as you pursue them.”
Erik hopes a loving family could help guide him.
“They want you to stay on the right path where you can pursue your dream, have fun, buy a house, get married,” he said, “Heck, have three kids!”
During our interview, Erik taught me how to play the card game “Trash.” He loves to play cards and football. Erik laughs saying the movie “The Waterboy” inspired him to play.
There was a time he said he quit playing games, though.
But now that he’s found a second family in his Junior ROTC at South San High School and in foster care staff members, Erik said he’s started to have fun again.
“Because now I remember why I first started it,” he said. “So I can have fun. Be a kid. Live my life." He hopes the next hand life deals him will be a forever family.
When asked if that was hard to imagine. "No,” he said. “I imagine it every day when I’m here.”
If you would like to learn more about adopting Erik or if you have general questions about how to foster or adopt a child, call 210-337-3117 or click here for more information.