RICHMOND, Va. -- November is National Adoption Month and CBS 6 has again partnered with JFS Connecting Hearts and Virginia Kids Belong to help find every child in the Virginia foster system a loving family.
Meet 14-year-old Alyssa.
"My friends would describe me as being caring and bossy," the energetic and helpful teen said. "They say I'm responsible, funny."
Alyssa loves to make jewelry and bake.
"I love to cook. If I don't know how to cook it, I just need a recipe and then I'm good," she said.
She is frank about where she is and where she sees herself going.
"I want people to know that I've made mistakes, that nobody is perfect. And that I'm trying and that I have a lot of independent living skills," she said. "I just want somebody to able to support me and be there and help me with what I need help on."
Alyssa loves music and feels a connection to both R&B and hip-hop.
She also said she especially wanted to find a deep connection with a forever family.
"Belonging means being accepted, for the good or the bad, through just everything that may go on, just being supported, cared for, and just feeling like you fit in," she said.
She said she imagines going on a hiking vacation with her new family, with everyone together equally.
"To make it feel like a family, the parents would just, if they have their own children, just treat me like their own, like don't treat me like I'm adopted. Just to love me like their own," she said. "Everybody deserves happiness and a family and I feel like it's my turn."
"I Belong Project" videos are a project of Virginia's Kids Belong in cooperation with America's Kids Belong.
EXPLORE MORE: Watch more A Hand to Hold video profiles on WTVR.com.
