Haven is a 17 year-old boy from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma who is desperate to find his forever family before he ages out of the foster system.

Haven has been in the custody of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services for the past five years, and he has always dreamed about being adopted. With just a few months to go before he turns 18 in October, Haven is starting to lose hope.

The teenager is involved with the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, and he hopes to join the military when he’s old enough so that he can be “a part of something bigger than myself and serving my country.” He currently lives with four other children in a situation that he says is often frustrating and limiting.

“It gets old at times,” he said. “Just being there. Not being able to go out whenever I want.”

Haven explained that he would really like to get a driver’s permit because it would give him the sense of independence that he longs for.

Haven has gone public to look for a forever family, saying that he wants someone who can guide him through early adulthood in the years ahead.

“So you can have someone to help you, like be there for you if you need help,” Haven said of what he is looking for in a forever family. “Not just going into it all blind because that’s how you get into drugs and bad stuff like that.”

Mostly, however, the teenager said that he wants “anyone that will take me.”

“I don’t really care. As long as it’s a family that will show love for me and be there for me,” he said.

Find out more about this in the video below.