LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Every child in foster care waits for the moment when they finally find their forever family.
This includes one teen in Central Arkansas who began his journey to find the perfect fit nearly two decades ago.
"José is one of our longest children who have been waiting in foster care with the goal of adoption. He entered foster care at approximately 9 months old and has remained in foster care waiting for his forever family," explained Tiffany Wright, the Director of the Division of Children Family and Services (DCFS).
José is a 17-year-old non-verbal child suffering from severe brain damage, and Wright explained how due to his circumstances it took a little extra love and care to find the right family.
"If our children in foster care don't find a family, they do face aging out of foster care, or, you know, being in a facility long term. In José's situation without any connections, oftentimes, DCFS becomes the only members of their family," Wright described.
As Arkansas's longest-waiting adoptive child, José's wait finally came to an end when Mary and Patrick miraculously appeared.
Mary explained that she first learned of José during a conversation with officials from Project Zero. For her and Patrick, there was no hesitation to provide José with the dream that he had held on to for a very long time.
"I think every single child that does not have a family needs to have a family and so we want to be his support system," Mary said. "We want to be just a constant presence in his life. We want to pray over him all the time, consistently. And we just want to try to do everything that we know, that Jesus would do."
On Thursday, Mary and Patrick stood in front of a judge in De Queen to make their family official with friends, family, and many others.
José's DCFS family also witnessed the big moment as they watched through a Zoom feed from about two-and-a-half hours away. All the celebration surrounding the momentous occasion showed that love never missed a beat in José's life— all it did was multiply.
"We prayed about him and prayed for him and we got to love him. God just called us to have him be a part of our family," Mary said in front of a judge.
For José, finding his forever family showed that love has no limit. His story is an example of what organizations like Project Zero aim to do— which is to provide every foster child with a forever home.
"That work has to happen every day for every child in our system, and so, you know, we're just committed to finding kids who are waiting in our system that forever family," Wright said.
While José is set to begin his life with his forever family and both Mary and Patrick become parents for the first time, the message is clear. It's never too late for love to find you.
"Whatever God has for the future of him, he [José] will always be part of our family and we just want to be there and be [the] family that he hasn't had in a long time," Mark described.