AUSTIN, Texas — Michael is an 11-year-old boy with an infectious energy that fills every room he walks into. With a bright, big smile and a tight hug, it's impossible not to fall in love with him.
"I really try to be as friendly as possible. And I feel like I am pretty friendly to other people," Michael said.
KVUE's Hannah Rucker had the pleasure of meeting up with Michael at the Altitude Trampoline Park in Round Rock. It's the perfect place to let out energy and clear your mind.
Michael enjoyed showing off his tricks and flips. He loves staying active.
"I like biking, I like swimming," Michael said. "I like climbing stuff a lot. I like doing, like, flips and stuff ... I also like sports a lot."
PHOTOS | Forever Families: Meet Michael
But at just 11 years old, Michael has already been through a lot. At three years old, he entered the foster care system and was adopted by a family. Then they put him back in foster care when he was 10 years old.
"That's why I don't have really – I guess, like, I guess my expectations for a family [aren't] really that much," Michael said. "It's just, like, I don't really care if it's a mom or a dad or a mom and a mom or a dad and a dad. I don't really care about that. Like, I feel like it would be a very good thing just to get adopted into a new family that is actually a good family for me."
Michael's favorite food is sushi, his favorite color is blue and he likes animals and making new friends.
Below is a photo of Michael with his caseworker, Amanda Whisenhunt. Whisenhunt said she decided to become a caseworker because she also knows what it's like to not have a family and she wants to help children walk through this traumatic chapter of their life.
To learn more about Michael 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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