Meet Manuel

In August 2018, Manuel Padilla went from living alone to raising his nine nieces and nephews for nearly a year. Since then, many of the siblings have gone to live with other family members, but Manuel plans to adopt two of his nieces. His experience as a kinship parent inspired Manuel to become a foster parent. He has a passion for working with older youth and LGBTQ+ youth. Manuel can often relate to the experiences of youth in his home because he was in foster care from age three until he emancipated and because he has experienced rejection because of his sexual orientation.