Some stories break your heart more than others. A few weeks ago, 15-year old Davion Only went to St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church in St. Petersburg, Fla., and asked if anyone, anyone at all, would adopt him. Can you imagine having the courage to do that...after a lifetime of rejection.
He’s lived his whole life in foster homes and group residences. He was born to a mom who was in jail and since then, he’s been shuttled from one place to the next with no permanent home. Part of him always felt that his birth mother would come and find him. In June, he got up the nerve to look for her, only to find that she had died a few weeks earlier.
So he and his caseworker went to the church and he stood up and asked if someone would take him in. As the story in the Naples News so beautifully put it: “Davion wants to play football, but there's no one to drive him to practice. He wants to use the bathroom without having to ask someone to unlock the door. More than anything, he wants someone to tell him he matters. To understand when he begs to leave the light on.”
Davion had some behavioral issues, but after he found out his mother had died, he decided to straighten himself out and make himself more appealing to potential families. He approached the altar at the church and said, “I know God hasn’t given up on me. So I’m not giving up either.”
So far, no one has adopted Davion, but two couples have asked about him. He deserves a happy ending. He deserves someone who will leave the light on and, more than anything, he needs to hear someone say that he matters. Because he does. We all do.
Today’s $10 goes to Hope Children’s Home in Tampa, Fla. The 45-year old home has taken in nearly 5,000 children, between the ages of 2 and 18, who have been orphaned, abused or discarded. With dorms housing up to 80 children, Hope has its own schooling through 12th grade. Hope Children’s Home receives no government funding and instead relies on donations from churches, organizations and individuals.
Oct. 16: Hope Children’s Home
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