Editor’s Note: This profile is being repeated as a home for this child still is being sought.

Rafik is a handsome, 12-year-old boy who is full of energy.

Engaging and very friendly, Rafik is a joy to spend time with and kind to those around him. Some of his favorite activities include playing video games, swimming and horseback riding.

Rafik has a healthy imagination and is great at creative play. He has a dramatic flair and a great sense of humor. He has an excellent reading ability and has a love for books and stories. His favorites are the Harry Potter series, the “Edge Chronicles” and “Secrets of Droon.”

He even has a goal to publish his first book before he turns 15.

Rafik is ready for a family and has a desire to develop and deepen relationships. Rafik responds well to genuine, specific praise for his accomplishments.

Rafik has a medical condition called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, type III. It is characterized by hypermobility of joints. Although this condition requires regular medical care, Rafik is able to participate in all activities that are age appropriate.

Rafik enjoys helping out around the house. He is responsible for feeding numerous pets at his current foster home. He would like brothers and sisters in his “forever family,” but hopes to be the oldest so he can be “a big brother.”

Rafik is one of 179 children in the care of the state Department of Health and Human Services who are seeking adoptive families.

Based in Gardiner, A Family for ME is a nonprofit program that works in collaboration with DHHS to find foster and adoptive families for Maine children in care.

Children in DHHS care who are available for adoption range in age from infancy to 18. A Family for ME’s primary focus is to find families for children ages 5 to 18. Most who are available for adoption are 5 years old or older and many are in sibling groups.

For more information about Rafik or other children available for adoption, contact A Family for ME toll free at (877) 505-0545 or visit www.AFamilyForMe.org and see the Heart Gallery of photographs of some of the many children awaiting a “forever family.”