Teen posts ad to rent a family for her birthday
A Colorado college student who grew up in foster care will get her birthday wish - a family to help her celebrate the occasion.
Natalie Carson, 19, gained national attention after posting an ad on Craigslist.com saying she had never had a happy birthday and wanted to rent a family to make the one coming up this month special. KMGH-TV in Denver reported on Wednesday that she had found a fill-in family.
Carson's Craigslist ad last month said she had been taken from her abusive parents as a child and grown up in foster care. She was never adopted and then aged out of the foster system. Carson said she was willing to pay a family $8 an hour to celebrate the birthday with her.
"I just want one day that I can feel important and special, and like I matter even if I really don't," Carson's ad read. "I have never had a good birthday, so I figure why not this birthday."
Carson told KMGH that she had been flooded with offers, including some from people in other states willing to fly her out for the day.
She told the station she had decided on a Colorado family to help her celebrate and asked for privacy after being overwhelmed by so much attention.
She also said her story was not unique and that many children who have been in foster care spend their birthdays alone.
"There's something more, you know, than just me because there's a million more of me," Carson told KMGH.
Carson said she was inspired to post the Craigslist ad after seeing a teen in California make a similar request seeking a family for the holidays.
Morning news break – June 04
