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SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Just like in life, at the race track there are rules.
“You need to take the corners slower,” explained a track employee to 15-year-old DJ. “When you’re coming around this corner, go wide and smooth.”
There are guidelines to help you succeed.
“This is going to be fun,” exclaimed DJ, as he put on a helmet and hopped into a car.
On Wednesday, those rules and guidelines came from a vigilant employee.
“I need to get that seatbelt around you,” he said to DJ.
However, in the real world, navigating the twists and turns of being a teenager is supposed to be guided by a loving parent. That’s something DJ doesn’t have.
“I went to group homes, foster homes and foster care,” DJ said. “I’m still with DCFS now.”
DJ entered foster care at just 6 years old, and he’s been there ever since.
“I thought that since I was so little, I was going to be this perfect kid for a perfect family,” DJ explained. “So far, that still hasn’t happened.”
Despite all the bumps in the road, moving from home to home, this teen is still not angry.
“I just feel like that’s how it was meant to be,” he said.
He has hopes life in state custody isn’t going to last much longer.
“I just hope there is a family out there that is right for me,” he said. “I think every kid wants a family to have someone to look up to.”
To learn more about DJ, contact the Utah Adoption Exchange at 801-265-0444 or visit their website, adoptex.org.
