AUSTIN, Texas — Every week on KVUE, we feature a different child in Texas foster care in the hopes of helping them find a forever family.
Jesus is an energetic 11-year-old boy who greets everyone he meets with a big, warm smile. He's about to finish up the fifth grade and enter into middle school in the fall.
"I'm feeling happy about entering middle school because I get to play football," Jesus said.
He said his love for football first began when he was six years old. His favorite team is the Baltimore Ravens, and he dreams of playing in the NFL someday.
"I started playing peewee football when I was six, and my coach, he put me as quarterback. And then, for like, part of the season and for the rest of the season, he put me at running back," Jesus said.
PHOTOS | Forever Families: Meet Jesus
Jesus has been in the Texas foster care system for a little over a year. He currently lives in a group setting but will soon move into a foster home.
More than anything, he said he hopes he can find a forever family to uplift him in life and help guide him toward a bright future.
"What I would like in a family is somebody that I can go to when I'm struggling, and someone that understands what I'm going through and I can process with," Jesus said. "I like processing my feelings, about how I'm feeling. If I'm feeling mad, I'll go to somebody and say, 'Hey, I'm feeling mad – can I get some help?'"
Jesus is also passionate about looking out for others. He said during the school day, he tries to find ways to help out, like cleaning up or helping his classmates with their homework.
"I like helping people because it's caring for them. And when you help people, you don't want anything in return. You just do it for fun," Jesus said.
Jesus has biological siblings that live in different places, and he would like to keep a relationship with them. But he's also excited and open to having new siblings!
To learn more about Jesus or to put in an inquiry to adopt him, visit his page on the Heart Gallery of Central Texas.
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.