AUSTIN, Texas — With a name like Jazzy and and a smile that goes ear to ear, this 14-year-old girl is hard to forget.
For the last four years, Jazzy has been in Texas foster care. She said her faith has helped her remain patient and hopeful during the process of finding a forever family.
"I sat here in foster care and everything, going through these group homes and everything, just siting here wondering like, 'Why is this all happening? Why is God putting me through this?'" Jazzy said. "But, really, it's for me to grow. I learned going to church and everything that He'll never put you through anything that He thinks you can't overcome."
Jazzy has several biological siblings that she is separated from. She said she loves them very much and wants to stay in contact with them going forward.
"They went back to my biological family's house, and I stayed in foster care because I don't want to go back into an environment – like I said, I want to grow. And not saying that they won't grow there, but it's not the environment I picture myself as growing in," Jazzy said, adding, "My siblings, they mean a lot to me. So I don't want them or [anyone] to think that I'm, like, trading them in for a new family."
During our Forever Families shoot, Jazzy spent the afternoon in Melanie Ford's beauty chair getting her makeup done. The two bonded because Jazzy wants to go into cosmetology when she gets older.
She also really likes playing basketball and said her friendships are very important to her.
Currently in the ninth grade, Jazzy is hopeful she can continue through high school with the love and support of a forever family.
"I want them to be there for me, even when I do mess up, even when I'm not there for myself," Jazzy said. "I want them to tell me, 'Oh, Jazz, you look really pretty today,' even when I don't feel pretty. I just want them to be there because I really haven't got that before. I really haven't got that attention before."
"I think I'm mentally and physically prepared for that, for a forever family," Jazzy added. "And I just think that that's the last step into becoming a whole."
To learn more about Jazzy or to put in an inquiry to adopt her, visit her 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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