Wednesday’s Child: Angel wants to be a big brother for a new family

WEST JORDAN, Utah — It doesn’t matter if it’s shooting hoops or throwing a baseball, 12-year-old Angel loves being active.

“I like to play sports at school, mostly basketball,” Angel said.

Sports are an escape for Angel, who has lived in foster care for nearly two years and is concerned about his family.

“I’m worried because I want to know if my mom is okay, and I want to help her with things,” Angel expressed.

Family is important to Angel. He entered foster care with his siblings, who have since been adopted, and he misses them.

“Especially my baby sister,” Angel said.

“Angel just genuinely cares. He cares about his younger siblings, he cares about those he calls family, and so something that would be really important for Angle is to keep that sibling contact,” said Gabbi Pagan, Angel’s Youth Connections Advocate at Raise the Future. “It doesn’t have to be every single weekend or every month, but just so he knows that his siblings are being taken care of would be something very important to him.”

Living in foster care isn’t something that Angle often talks about, but he opened up about his experience with KSL TV’s Shara Park while visiting Rush Funplex in West Jordan.

“I would. It’s scary because you don’t know, like, if they’re like, strict or mean and stuff,” Angel said.

Angle says he doesn’t tell his friends he’s living in foster care because he’s afraid they’ll unfairly judge him.

“If I tell them, I’m going to be embarrassed,” Angel explained. “Because I feel like other people might spread it out and talk about it and probably laugh at it.”

Angel says he tries to remind himself that living in foster care is only temporary, and he hopes he’ll be able to find a permanent home with a loving family soon.

“A family means to me that I have a happy family, that I can hang out with them a lot,” Angel said.

“Angel is one that really needs that family with structure. He would do best in a family that kept a schedule going for them and really helped him foresee what was going to happen,” Pagan added.

Along with sports, Angel enjoys playing video games. He also loves school, especially math. He says he hopes to be a police officer someday to help other families in need.

“I like to stay up all night and stuff, and help other people, help with what they’re supposed to do and not do,” Angel said.

Angel is ready for a forever family, one that will allow him to have that spotlight and shine as a big brother.

“He’ssuch a funny kid,” Pagan said. “He loves to tell jokes and loves to shine in that spotlight.”

Pagan says Angel is a protector, and he cares about those around him. She hopes there is a family out there willing to get to know him, love him, and adopt him.

“He would need to see that these people care for him and that they’re choosing him,” said Pagan. “He really needs to be shown that he’s loved and being chosen.”

To learn more about Angel, please contact Raise the Future at 801-265-0444 or visit the organization’s website.