Marcus

He spent his early years in a small apartment with his mother, who worked two jobs and did her best. Things were never easy, but Marcus remembers good moments — Saturday pancakes, library trips, a stray cat he named after a basketball player.

When his mother's health declined and no extended family could step in, a caseworker placed Marcus in a licensed foster home. He arrived with a backpack, two sketchbooks, and a basketball his mom had saved up to buy him.

Marcus is sharp in math, funny when he lets himself be, and the quiet kid at school who always helps the new student find their seat. He's still processing a lot, but his teachers say he shows up every day and tries.

He wants to make the middle-school basketball team. He wants to keep drawing. He wants to learn guitar so he can play at the foster family's Sunday dinners. Small dreams that, stacked together, look a lot like a future.

Your support funds art therapy sessions, basketball league fees, and the school supplies his foster family stretches hard to provide. Every dollar you give becomes something Marcus can practice, create, or play with this month.