AUSTIN, Texas — For a child in foster care, the world can often feel a little overwhelming as they constantly have to live in strange new places, unsure of what the future holds.
But for 11-year-old Khloe, that's where art comes in.
"I can look at it and like, I can see, 'Oh, I might've messed up.' But it's not a mess-up. It's perfect the way it is," Khloe said.
Khloe uses he/him pronouns and sometimes goes by Ian.
"Sometimes, I feel like I want to be a boy. Sometimes, I feel like I want to be a girl. I'm trying to figure out who I am," Khloe said.
KVUE's Hannah Rucker got to spend the day with Khloe at Art Barn ATX, tucked away in the hills of Leander, in a gorgeous treehouse overlooking Lake Travis. It's a great place for children's birthday parties and summer camps.
PHOTOS | Forever Families: Meet Khloe
Amber Gordon, a local art teacher and the owner of Art Barn ATX, said it best: There are really no rules when it comes to art.
"It is a natural therapy. It's very natural to go in and not have someone tell you that it has to be done a certain way or that it needs to look a certain way," Gordon said.
Khloe has three siblings, a brother and two sisters, who he was separated from when he entered the foster care system. He said they haven't all been together in several years and he misses them.
Khloe also said he would love to play football.
"I feel like I can take [tough stuff]. I'm a tough person. And I feel like that would be the best thing for me to do," he said.
Khloe loves the color orange, sloths are his favorite animal and he really hopes his forever family has siblings. He also said he wants to be able to stay in contact with his biological siblings going forward.
Khloe starts middle school in the fall and would love to find a family before then to help him through it.
"Every person should have a family. Because they go through hard stuff in life, and if you don't have a family or friends, you won't get through that stuff," Khloe said.
To learn more about Khloe 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.
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