Created: 2/22/2007 10:34:24 PM 
High Point, NC -- Antonio King looks like any other member of the Andrews Track and Field team. As a foster kid, he never wanted to be seen as different.
"I was in a group home in High Point, right down the road," King says. But even that came to an end.
"The closer you get to 18 DSS says, pretty much, you have to go." But King didn't have anywhere else to go.
"I was stuck. It was either walk the streets all night and be cold, or stay in the school and have a warm place to stay."
So after his last class on a Friday afternoon, he hid.
"I would get up on the toilet so no one could see my feet. I would sit there for hours until everyone was gone."
At night he studied, then went to sleep. He showered on weekends.
"I had a friend, I would go down to his house and wash up. I would switch out a shirt everyday so people wouldn't think I was wearing the same shirt everyday, and I carried on."
After a few weeks, he thought someone might be catching on.
"I knew I had to go somewhere else. One night, I just walked the streets for hours. And I finally decided I didn't have anywhere else to go, so I just started checking windows, and finally O found one that was unlocked."
"When I came through the window, an alarm went off. I heard a dog. My first reaction was to run. I ran outside. Police had surrounded the whole school. One of the police officers told me to get down on the ground or he'd shoot. When I looked around, his gun was right there."
King was arrested and taken to the police station, where he got the chance to explain himself to the principal.
"She said you're going home with me tonight. I didn't have anywhere else to go. She fed me. I hadn't eaten a meal in two weeks. I would eat lunch at school and that was it. I had worn the same clothes, underwear, socks for about a week. She got me some clean clothes. I was really thankful."
King has even more to be thankful for today.
"I have my own bed. I never have to worry about going hungry. I can wash and dry my clothes whenever I want. We even have three showers."
He got one of eight beds at Joseph's House, a place for homeless young adults.
"I did what I had to do to survive. Some people would have given up and not made it. I'm still here."
To find out more about Joseph's House, visit www.josephshouse.net or call Rev. Nancy McLean at (336) 389-9887.
There is another organization offering similar services, I Am Now. You can find out more about that program by clicking on "Former Foster Child Wants To Help Others" in our local news section.
WFMY News 2
