AUSTIN, Texas — Every week on KVUE Daybreak, we feature a different child in the Texas foster care system, in hopes of helping them get adopted by a forever family.
Ellen is a spunky and bright 12-year-old who is getting ready to start middle school in just a few weeks.
"I turn 13 in September, and I'm going to have a Taylor Swift-themed birthday party," Ellen said. "I can't wait."
KVUE's Hannah Rucker met up with Ellen at Erin Condren, a stationary store in The Domain. Employees allowed Ellen to customize her very own planner for the first day of school.
Ellen loves Taylor Swift and even writes her own songs and plays the guitar, drawing inspiration from the popular singer.
"I just really like that she really doesn't care what anybody thinks. She just follows her dreams," Ellen said.
She also loves fashion and trying on different styles and posing for her friends.
"I wore this dress today special for this," Ellen said.
But most of all, she is eager to be able to live in a home with a forever family and have the chance to invite her friends over from school.
"I really wish I could be at home because if I was at home, I could invite all my friends from public school and we could have a sleepover and pillow fights," Ellen said.
When she thinks about what she wants in a forever family, her desires are very simple.
"I want to spend more time with a family and be able to just lay back on the couch and watch a movie with a family," she said.
Ellen said entering into foster care was a heartbreaking experience, but she's been able to find ways to cope along the way.
"I was really unhappy, and I was like, 'It's OK to be sad. It doesn't really matter because at the end of the day, there's so much stuff that could happen in the future.' And so, I was like, 'Maybe I could get adopted,'" Ellen said.
To learn more about Ellen or to put in an inquiry to adopt her, visit her page on the Heart Gallery of Central Texas.
PHOTOS | Forever Families: Meet Ellen
KVUE launched the Forever Families segment with Partnerships for Children (PFC) in June 2020 to highlight children in the Heart Gallery of Central Texas who need secure and permanent families. Every day, there are nearly 1,000 children waiting to get adopted in Central Texas, according to PFC.
Editor's note: The children who are in the Heart Gallery program and featured in KVUE's Forever Families segments are children who have had every effort made on their behalf to connect them with family or others in their community to provide options for permanent, adoptive homes. Through no fault of their own, that hasn’t happened yet, and so in partnership with the Department of Family and Protective Services, we collaborate to bring awareness to KVUE viewers about these children in the hopes of finding them permanency before they age out.