EXCLUSIVE: Davion gets his wish! Orphan, 15, who spent his life in care will spend Christmas with prospective family two months after he made heart-wrenching plea in church for someone to adopt him

The Florida teenager, who has bounced around foster care his whole life, set to spend holidays with his 'own family'



He is currently living with his prospective parents so he can get to know the family before any permanent adoption is finalized

His biological aunt Doris Barnes told MailOnline today: ' I just want him to be happy and loved and to be with someone who is going to do the best for his future'

Davion Only, the 15-year-old Florida orphan whose courageous plea for adoption touched the hearts of millions around the globe will spend Christmas with a loving foster family, MailOnline can reveal.

The teenager, who has spent his whole life being bounced around care facilities, is on the verge of seeing his wish come true of finding a home.

He is currently living with his prospective parents so he can get to know the family before any permanent adoption is finalized.

Still without a family: Davion Only, 16, who has spent his whole life in foster care and begged for anyone to adopt him at his church

Simple wish: Davion Only, the orphan whose plight gripped the nation, attended many interviews across the country about his plight

And according to Davion’s biological aunt Doris Barnes – the sister of Davion’s dead crack-addict mother La Dwina 'Big Dusty' McCloud – the foster parents plan to take Davion away for a proper family Christmas his first ever.

Today a spokesperson for Eckerd, the Florida adoption agency handling Davion's case, told MailOnline: ‘Davion has moved from his group home placement at Carlton Manor to a foster home where he is enjoying getting to know the family. Davion is excited to be spending the holidays with a perspective adoptive family.’

And Mrs Barnes added: ‘I know he is going out of town with a family for Christmas. I wanted to buy him a present and maybe see him, but I can’t because he’s not going to be around.

‘I just want him to be happy and loved and to be with someone who is going to do the best for his future.’

The heart-warming, festive news will thrill the millions of people around the world who were deeply touched by Davion’s plight.

The teenage orphan caught the nation's attention after he spoke before his church in St Petersburg, Florida in October and said he wasn't giving up on finding a loving family

Inspiring: Davion Only at 15 with his case worker Connie Going in September before nervously making his speech before the congregation

Back in October the teen stood up before a 300-plus member congregation at St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church St. Petersburg, Florida and begged for a family to adopt him and give him a real home.

He told the congregation: '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… I know God hasn't given up on me. So I'm not giving up either.'

Eckerd's Carlton Manor residential group home in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he was living with 12 other teenage boys, was immediately inundated with tens of thousands of calls and emails.

Families in countries including Canada, India, Mexico, Australia, Great Britain and Iran all made contact to enquire about adopting him. Davion's plea caused so much traffic on the agency's website that it nearly crashed.

Emotional plea: The orphan speaks before St Mark's Missionary Baptist Church to ask if someone would become his parent

Unstable childhood: Davion has been in the foster system his entire life, going from one temporary home to the next

Speaking to CNN about the phenomenal reaction at the time, Davion said: 'It's not really cool not to have anybody. I'm pretty happy and excited that people are calling and asking to talk to me and possibly be my family.

'I just want people to love me for who I am and to grab me and keep me in their house and love me no matter what.'

Last month Davion took his story to Florida Governor Rick Scott and the Cabinet to speak on behalf of all the State’s teenagers looking for their ‘forever family’.

‘Even though I'm going through an adoption process right now at the moment, I still hope that other kids in foster care get the benefit that I'm going to have to be adopted and to have somewhere to call home and to have a bed to call theirs,’ he said, speaking to a packed meeting.

The fact Davion addressed the Cabinet is in itself incredible when it is considered that just a few months ago he was, by his own admission, short tempered and badly behaved.

Davion started to look for his mother, whom he had never met, using his birth certificate at a local library in June. He found her obituary and discovered that La-Dwina Ilene 'Big Dust' McCloud (left) had died aged 55 in Clearwater just weeks before



Biological family: Carolyn Ware, grandmother of Davion Only, spent time with her grandson over Thanksgiving

Wanted him back: Davion's aunt Doris Barnes, pictured left in October, said Davion belongs with his biological family. She said she would take him in - but is not allowed because she has a criminal record

His case worker Connie Going said the teen has always longed for a family but he didn't seek one earlier because he hoped his crack addict mother, La Dwina 'Big Dusty' McCloud would come back for him one day.

He started to look for his mother using his birth certificate at a local library in June. He found her obituary and saw that she had died aged 55 in Clearwater just weeks before.

At the time of her death, the long-term drug abuser was blind and only had one leg because of severe diabetes.

She had a long criminal record for a variety of offences and had spent years in prison. Because of her addictions Davion was taken into care when he was just a few months old.



Before the heart-wrenching discovery that his mother was dead, Davion was short-tempered and didn’t try in school. He was also around 40 pounds overweight, which was affecting his health.

But the news of La Dwina’s death gave him the wake-up call he needed, so he started to improve his attitude towards education, obtaining top grades and losing lots of weight.

Davion shows an ABC presenter his small bedroom at the St Petersburg foster home where he shares bunk beds with another boy

Adorable: Davion, pictured at the age of seven, has been in foster care in Florida for his whole life

MailOnline exclusively interviewed his biological family in October and they told how La Dwina thought about Davion until the day she died and always dreamed of being reunited with him.

They also revealed that they had an emotional meeting with the teenager around three months before his church plea and told how they were desperate to play a part in his life.

They even wanted to be considered as possible options for adoption, but unfortunately many of them have criminal records, so they were instantly ruled out.

But his aunt, Mrs Barnes, today revealed she did have a second meeting with Davion on Thanksgiving Day. Her cousin, police detective Maurice McCloud has been allowed regular contact with Davion and has become a mentor to the teenager.

He brought him to meet Mrs Barnes and other family members last month. Speaking to MailOnline, she said: ‘The adoption agency don’t really talk to us, I don’t think there’s any chance of anyone in my family adopting him now.

Looking for a family: 15-year-old Davion spoke to the church congregation about how badly he wanted a family to care about him

‘Maurice picks him up and does stuff with him quite regularly. They are supposed to be going to New York soon to go to a ball game.

‘He brought him to see us on Thanksgiving Day, it was really nice, we had a good time. I explained to him that it would be better to have two parents rather than one.

‘He has never had either, so it would be great if he could have both when he gets adopted. I know he would love that.

‘We didn’t really talk about his adoption, he was just happy to see us. He said to us, “You guys can’t get me because of your past. It was a long time ago, it shouldn’t be like that”.

‘Then he said he’d rather be with his real family, but I told him it was just impossible. He understands that and he knows we are here and that we all love him. Maurice could try to adopt, but he is so busy with his hours at work and Davion needs two parents.

‘Anyway, I think Davion will come and find us when he’s old enough. He knows where we are.’