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SALT LAKE CITY — Orlando is a teen who has an eye for creation.
"They take pictures as I draw," he said as he begins his art project at Salt Lake City based arts organization SpyHop.
He has a steady hand and something else: patience. That's because every squeak of the marker is just one step in about a thousand.
He also has patience when it comes to family. "I had to take care of my three younger siblings," he said. "It was just instinct, I guess, and just using what I learned from taking care of myself."
At 11 years old, Orlando entered foster care where he remains. His patience is coming in handy.
"I make a lot of friends and then lose them just by moving around all the time," he said. "I've done the math a couple times and it's been about 35 or 40 moves."
This isn't Orlando's first time participating in a Wednesday's Child segment. In August of 2014, KSL first highlighted him. "Yeah, I was hoping for it to fix a lot of things," he said as he continued to draw.
It didn't. He wants this time to be different. "It just doesn't feel the same because I've matured more."
Orlando is not asking for much. "I hope (the family) will be nice and help me on my homework when I need help," he said. "I think I would do better with family then go out there on my own without knowing what to do."
For now, he knows what he has to do. He has to wait a little longer and hope his next drawing will include a family.
"I'm a very understandable kid and I want to be loved," he said.
To learn more about Orlando or the many other children living in the Utah foster care system, contact The Adoption Exchange at 801-265-0444.
