Melanie has natural talent for dance. Her kind, sparkling nature really shows through when she is at the dance studio, where she enjoys helping the other children fine-tune their skills. Devoting every available minute to dance has not prevented Melanie from excelling in school where she consistently maintains honor roll status and is active in the school choir. Due to a recent auto accident and associated medical bills, Melanie's mother is struggling financially. Although she works two jobs and takes on extra shifts at every opportunity, in November they were forced to relinquish their own housing and move in with the grandparents in an effort to get through this rough time.