Colorado Woman Enlists Craigslist to Rent a Family for Her Birthday
Check out the unusual Craigslist ad from a "Young Female College Student."
— -- Some people post job ads on Craigslist to paint their house or walk their dogs. Others, like Natalie Carson, post more unusual ones like trying to find a family she can rent for a day.
The Westminster, Colorado, woman posted a heartfelt notice on Craigslist that she was looking to rent a family to help celebrate her birthday.
“I am not a weirdo or anything I was just inspired by another girl that rented a family from craigslist in California for the holidays,” she wrote. “I just want one day that I can feel important and special, and like I matter even if I really don't.”
She also wrote: "I am NOT looking for any monetary support as I also work.I can pay $8 an hour."
Carson, 19, grew up in the foster care system and wasn’t adopted before she aged out at 18, she told ABC affiliate station KMGH-TV in Denver.
She wants to make this next birthday more memorable than her previous ones, she added.
"It's something that I've never really had. Of course, I've had birthdays, but they haven't been good," she said. "Usually, every birthday is really painful and hard."
Carson did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment via email.
She told KMGH she was a baby in Colorado when she went into the foster care system and soon moved to Georgia with a family who adopted her, she said. She ended up back in foster care and stayed until she aged out at 18.
One of the first things she did as an adult was take a bus right back to Colorado. “I really didn't know anything, but I knew I was born here," she told the TV station.
Carson said she worked to earn her GED and is now taking college classes to focus on computer science, with the support of Urban Peak, a Denver group that helps homeless youth.
Carson said several families have already reached out to her and she’s speaking to one family in particular about her big day.
"I felt like having one day where it's OK -- this is about me and it's my birthday," Carson said. "I don't have this big elaborate plan or anything, I just wanted it to be good."