Sunday’s Child is a weekly column featuring a child in foster care awaiting adoption.

Stacey is a very sweet, sensitive, and caring 16-year-old girl. She attends a local high school, where she is in the 10th grade. Her focus is culinary arts and she loves it! She also loves to sing in her school’s chorus. Along with singing and dancing Stacey loves to swim and play with her hand-held gaming system. Stacey has stated that when she grows up she would like to be a social worker.

She currently has an Individualized Educational Plan for some cognitive delays and is in the life skills program. Within her program, she is an “A’’ student. Stacey has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, yet she is a very independent child. She is able to walk and go up and down stairs by holding onto objects in her home, then she uses crutches when she goes out and utilizes a walker while she attends school. Her progress is monitored through Shriners Hospital. Stacey would do well in any family constellation, with or without other children.

Who can adopt?

Can you provide the guidance, love, and stability that a child needs? If you’re at least 18 years old, have a stable source of income, and room in your heart, you may be a perfect match to adopt a waiting child. Adoptive parents can be single, married, or partnered; experienced or not; renters or homeowners; LGBT singles and couples.

The process to adopt a child from foster care requires training, interviews, and home visits to determine if adoption is right for you, and if so, to help connect you with a child or sibling group that will be a good match.

To learn more about adoption from foster care, call the Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange at 617-54-ADOPT (617-542-3678) or visit www.mareinc.org. The sooner you call, the sooner a waiting child will have “a permanent place to call home.’’