Colorado teen Natalie Carson posted an ad on Craigslist for a family to rent on her birthday for $8 per hour which received response from more than 1,000 families.
"It's something that I've never really had," 19-year-old Carson told ABC7. "Usually every birthday is really painful and it's hard."
Carson was placed in foster care when she was still a baby since her biological parents abused her in Denver. She then found an adoptive family in Georgia which was abusive as well, according to her Craigslist posting.
She celebrated one birthday with her adoptive family when her grandmother gave her a doll but her dad made her throw it in the trash, reported Yahoo News.
At age 12, Carson was sent back to foster care, but when she turned 18, she went to Westminster, Colo., and lived in a youth shelter, Urban Peaks, which helped her earn her GED.
Currently, she studies computer science in a college while working as a grocery clerk.
Carson will be celebrating her 20th birthday on June 10 and decided to post an ad on Craigslist after hearing about a California girl who did a similar thing.
"I just want one day that I can feel important and special, and like I matter even if I really don't," she wrote.
Several families across the world were interested in helping her out; some families "even offered to fly out to Colorado and bring lavish gifts," reported the New York Daily News. Others sent heartwarming encouragements.
"Now I feel more hopeful about my birthday, and more happy. I feel a bit bad too, though in a way, because I'll be 40 before I can celebrate my birthday with all of these people," Carson said. "I want to be like, 'Will you be willing to wait until I'm 40?'"
The ad has already removed from Craiglist. Carson did not reveal if she had a chosen a family with whom to spend her 20th birthday.
