Davion Only-Going celebrates 2nd adoption anniversary with Florida family
He was adopted in 2015 by his caseworker and gained two sisters and a brother.
— -- Davion Only-Going, who humbly stood in front of a Florida church at the age of 15 and pleaded for a family in 2013, is celebrating two years of love and security with the Going family.
"I feel safe, and I feel like, you know, I just have people who care about me," Only-Going told ABC News today. "You just have this sense of freedom in that you just know that, no matter what, someone's there for you and you have a support system."
In 2015, he was adopted by Connie Going and gained two sisters, Sydney and Carley, and a brother, Taylor. It has been a long road for both Only-Going and Going, who was his caseworker in 2013. He is now 19.
"I have my own room. I have my own things, and I know that, regardless, I don't have to move them out," he said. "They'll always be there."
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He caught the world's attention in 2013, when he made a public plea in front of St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church in St. Petersburg, Florida, for a family. He had been in foster care his entire life.
In the months before he made the plea, he learned his birth mother's name but made the heartbreaking discovery that she had died.
"I'll take anyone," he told ABC News in 2013. "Old or young, dad or mom, black, white, purple — I don't care. And I would be really appreciative. The best I could be ... I'm praying and still hoping. I know God hasn't given up, and I'm not either."
The national response was overwhelming, with tens of thousands of calls made to adoption agencies seeking information on the teen. Requests poured in from around the world, including Canada, India, Mexico, Australia, the U.K. and Iran.
In 2014, though, he was removed from the home of a potential adoptive family in Ohio after an altercation, according to the agency overseeing his adoption. Before he was placed with a new family in Florida, he asked Going to adopt him.
In April 2015, Going finalized the adoption. Now, with another anniversary on the books, the family is looking forward to high school graduations and summer vacations.
"We're a family," Only-Going said. "We know that no matter what, we're always going to be together ... Our journey is really just beginning ... I wouldn't give my family up for anyone."
ABC News' Steve Osunsami contributed to this story.
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