This boy stole my heart about 8 years ago when I met him at the school where I teach. Weekends and summers spent together, memories made, and laughs shared over the years. Fast forward to 2025...being a teenager is tough and even more so when you feel like you don't matter.

Gav showed up at my door at 4:30 AM in Dec. 2024. After being tossed from place to place as he was too much trouble for his aunt to deal with, after several times of running away, he'd had enough and left the hotel where his "homeless" family was staying. My disabled partner and I took him in and he has SUCCESSFULLY lived with us since January 2025.

The problem I have encountered is getting him the medical help he needs—scripts for ADHD and anger, as well as counseling for the trauma issues he has experienced throughout his young life. I should retire at the end of this school year; however, I am committed to ensuring Gav lives with us through high school and has the tools he needs to be successful in life. In order to do this, I MUST obtain legal guardianship of him. The adult who cared for him since he was a baby has washed her hands of him and is fine with me becoming his legal guardian. To do this, his birth parents must be located and notified and so on. All of this requires an attorney, which costs money. As a school teacher who is at retirement age, this is something I don't readily have.

Please help me help a boy who is so deserving of having a home where he has thrived for the past year!