In 2013, a 16-year-old boy captured hearts around the nation when he made a plea in front of church congregation for a family.
Davion Navar Henry Only highlighted the struggles faced by many teenagers in the adoption system when he stood up in a suit and told worshipers at Florida’s St Mark Missionary Baptist Church:
My name is Davion and I’ve been in foster care since I was born. I know God hasn’t given up on me, so I’m not giving up either. I’ll take anyone. Old or young, dad or mom, black, white, purple. I don’t care. And I would be really appreciative. The best I could be.
Davion concluded by saying he just wanted a family that would “love him forever.”
The footage went viral, leading to millions of people reaching out to inquire about adopting him and an interview with Barbara Walters on The View. This all led to the young man being adopted by a minister in Ohio. Unfortunately, after Davion got into a fight with one of the minister’s children, he was sent back to Florida and back into the foster care system.
The one consistent person in all the years that Davion has been in the system is his case worker, Connie Bell Going. After watching him slide into a depression for the past year, she decided it was time she did more.
In an interview with the Tampa Bay Times she revealed that one night last July, Davion called up and asked, “How do you feel about adopting me now?”
For the first time since he had asked her years ago, “Miss Connie” took the request seriously. The 52-year-old had three children of her own, one adopted and two biological daughters, and was a single mother, but no longer being Davion’s case worker made the application process easier.
In August, he started spending more and more time with the family. Then, in December, Going got a lawyer and began taking steps to adopt Davion. “I guess I always thought of you as my mom,” Davion said to Going last December.
Now, the young man will have his first bedroom, his first set of siblings, and, most importantly, the one thing he had been hoping for all along — a parent he can depend on.
The adoption becomes official on April 22nd.
Hear the story in their own words below.
