*Photo credit: The Tampa Bay Times

Davion Only had been in foster care since he was born. In 2013, the 16-year-old pleaded in front of a church congregation in St. Petersburg, FL to be adopted and his video went viral. More than 10,000 people from around the country responded. He spent time with a potential adoptive family in Ohio, but it didn’t work out, so eventually returned to Florida.

Only made a call to his adoption case worker Connie Bell Going, a woman he had known since he was seven. Only had asked Going to adopt him every year, but she always believed there was a better family out there for him. When Only asked again in July 2014, Going gave him a different response.

“In adoption there is a ‘claiming moment,’ when you know [someone is] your child. When he called me to ask, in that moment, I just knew.” -Connie Bell Going

After a successful test run with Going’s family, which includes two daughters and a son who were also adopted from foster care, adoption proceedings began to make Only a part of the family. On April 22, 2015, Only’s adoption was finalized and his search for a forever family was over. Read more about Davion Only in this article from the Tampa Bay Times.

More than 102,000 U.S. children in foster care are waiting to be adopted. If you would like to make a difference in the life of a child, click here or visit our adoption website to view profiles of waiting children.