Las Vegas Now | Local Teen Nominated for National Award

Local Teen Nominated for National Award

A 14-year-old Las Vegas girl is being honored in a national contest because of her advocacy work on behalf of children in the foster care system.

National research shows more than a third of all foster children will experience some form of abuse in the child welfare system. A recent I-Team investigation uncovered more than a thousand complaints against licensed caregivers here in Clark County.

It's a system Heather Wilder's been in. She defines her life in fractions: a third spent in an abusive home, another third in foster care and now a third with a new and permanent family. In just 14 years, the teen overcame her struggle to help those going through a similar situation.

It's her never quit spirit which is why she's being honored as someone who just keeps going and going.

At first glance, Heather is your average teen. Her walls showcase achievements -- from sparkling crowns to a letter from the president. But she worries people believe all kids live like this.

"They think that kids are just taken care of, but I tell them no, kids are actually not taken care of. They don't -- sometimes they get locked into to a room like I was," she said.

Her bedroom is much different than the one she grew up in, where she was only allowed out to be abused.

"I also only got fed one bowl of ramen noodles a day, and all I had for a bed was a blanket on the floor," she said.

At seven, she was taken into foster care and luckily found an adoptive mom quickly, "Some people think, ‘Wow, this could be the day I get adopted.' and then, you know, the parents don't pick them."

Seeing kids get stuck in the foster care system made Heather write a book about the disappointments faced with adoption, "Kids getting all dressed up and they think that maybe this family is going to pick them."

She's also talked with government leaders to get foster kids more help, "I am trying to get Congress to get the rights for the children."

Her determination to keep going, no matter what life throws at her, is why she has been nominated for the Energizer Keep Going Hall of Fame, but she says her reason to keep going is no secret.

"Sometimes motivation, and then sometimes, just because I have to," she said.

Heather is just one of 100 semifinalists for the award. If she wins, she will get a $10,000 prize, which she says she will split between foster care charities and a college fund for herself.

The company will narrow down the finalists from 100, to just 10. Then it will open up to online voting beginning June 12, 2008.

Email your comments to Reporter Amanda Hernandez