Helena, 18 years old, MO | 32 DAYS WAITING

Wish submitted by:

Helena is a bright, thoughtful young woman who brings joy and enthusiasm to everything she does. She is deeply involved in her community, regularly volunteering alongside her foster family and sharing her warm, caring nature by babysitting at church. Helena excels in school and takes great pride in the stability she has found, proudly calling her foster parents "Mom" and "Dad" after years of moving through the foster care system. Her resilience, kind heart, and dedication to helping others make her a truly special person with a bright future ahead.

Helena just started her first job, and she's genuinely proud of it. Right now she still needs her foster parents to drive her everywhere, but she's growing up fast and she wants to start learning to do things on her own before she has to. A bike would let her ride to work herself on nice days, one small step toward standing on her own two feet. Helena lost her old bike through the moves that came with being in foster care — one more thing shuffled away that she never got to choose. Having a bike again would mean having something steady and hers again: a way to explore, get outside, and just enjoy being a teenager on a good day, not only commute. For a kid who's had to leave so much behind, this small piece of freedom and fun could mean a lot more than it looks like on the surface. She's trying so hard to grow up right and do things the right way. A bike is a small thing that could mean a lot to her.