TUNKHANNOCK, Pa. — When Jabari Glezen graduates from Valley View High School next year, he wants to join the Marines, then eventually get into construction. He credits the woman who fostered and adopted him four years ago with putting him on the right path.
"I love that Lindsey puts rules down on the table that I can follow. And if there weren't, I would be afraid where I would be right now. I would probably be on the streets or, even worse, jail."
Members of the Northeast Regional Youth Advisory Board say they need more people like Lindsey to become foster parents.
"There's especially a need for foster parents for older youth in care. Everyone wants a baby, but nobody thinks about the teenagers who are looking for a home," Sommer Gaydos said.
That includes teenagers like Ryley Baker, who says, once he was placed in a loving foster home, he could focus more on getting into college than on problems at home.
Or Tunkhannock High School student Logan Konen, who craved that same structure as Jabari.
"I've been in and out of placements since I was 12. And I finally found the right one with my mom. She's amazing. She treats me well, and she tells me all the things I need to know when I grow up."
All these stories are like the ones you'll see represented in the comedy "Instant Family." The Dietrich Theater in Tunkhannock is showing the movie for free as part of a Foster Care Awareness Month event.
"It feels like it was actually made for an event like this. It tells the story of a couple who adopted three children in a family unit, and it gives you the good, the bad. It's a very accurate representation about what it's like to be in the foster care system," said Ronnie Harvey from the Dietrich Theater.
After the showing, foster parents and kids will be on hand to share their experiences, along with several community providers that will share ways you can get involved.
"I have a lot of friends in the foster care system. I've met a lot of people, and I've seen a lot of struggles that they go through, and I've heard a lot of very terrible stories, and I would hate for anybody else to go through that," said Tunkhannock High School student Zariah Streich.
Check out WNEP's YouTube channel.