AUSTIN, Texas — Laced up and ready to skate!
Blake, 16, loves to put on his rollerblades and ride around thinking about life. As he rides, he thinks about the family that will someday bring him home for good.
He is a tough teen with a grit to him.
When he fell from his skates in the first few minutes of his time with professional derby skater, Katherine (Kat) Lansdowne, he picked himself right back up and, rest assured, he did not fall again.
"I've been skating for a long time. I just did not have skates again until like two years ago," Blake said.
Lansdowne is a Texas Rollergirls skating official and a member of the Austin Anarchy Roller Derby League.
"Your body does this [shows Blake a motion] so you automatically throw your body forward," Lansdowne said as she showed Blake the most efficient way to keep his balance.
PHOTOS | Forever Families: Meet Blake
In addition to his skating abilities, Blake is also a rockstar. He can play the flute and keyboard well and is learning the guitar and piano. Music runs through his bones.
"I love music. I grew up listening to rock and heavy metal," he said.
When Blake wants to take it easy, he moves to his notebook to draw or write poetry.
"I do express what I have gone through in my writing," he said.
He is self-reliant, self-sufficient and is very organized. He is a bright and funny teenager who is easy to talk to and a joy to be around.
Blake knows what it is going to take to get him where he wants to be in life: good grades. He shines in his honor classes and someday hopes to become a pathologist or something else in the medical field.
"Honestly, I love gross and grotesque things. I find it interesting," Blake said.
His caseworker, Samantha Faulkner, has loved her time with Blake.
"Blake is an old soul, mature for his age and wise beyond his years. He is very easy to talk to and can strike up a conversation with almost anyone. He is brave and he is optimistic about his future and has goals," Faulkner said.
RELATED:
Blake needs an accepting family who can give unconditional love. He also needs structure, consistency and clear expectations.
He also wants them to be "loving and understanding." Blake would flourish in any family setting and would like to continue his relationship with his much younger biological sister.
One more thing:
"I need someone who is going to jam with me," he said.
This month is Foster Care Awareness Month. Local child welfare organizations are working together with Fostering Hope to recruit community members who are looking to support foster families and children in the Austin community by providing short-term childcare. Fostering Hope partners with local child-placing agencies to meet the state’s requirements for foster care babysitters. The next training dates for babysitter training are coming up in July, and are hosted virtually.
If you are looking for a way to get involved and make a difference with children like the ones we feature each week on Forever Families, please visit the Heart Gallery website to find the link to register.
To learn more about Blake 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.