OKLAHOMA CITY (NewsNation) — An Oklahoma boy’s quest for a family led to thousands of submissions from people across the nation interested in potentially adopting him.
In July, 9-year-old Jordan was featured on NewsNation affiliate KFOR‘s recurring segment “A Place to Call Home,” which shares stories of children hoping for adoption. The viral interview led to over 5,000 submission requests from within the state and beyond, KFOR reported.
When asked what three wishes he’d want granted, Jordan replied that he really only had one.
“To have a family, and family, family. Those are the only wishes I have,” he said. “I would just like to have a family to call mom and dad, or just mom, or just dad. I don’t really care.”
“The reason it’s important is because, so I could have some people to talk to anytime I need to,” Jordan added. “I hope one of y’all pick me.”
Jordan currently resides in a group home but his permanency planning worker, Christopher Marlowe, is recruiting Oklahoma Department of Human Services’ staff members to help vet the inquiries.
“I’m in the process of reading through those profiles to select a family to try to move forward with,” said Marlowe.
In foster care for a total of six years, Jordan and his brother Braison were first featured on KFOR three years ago. The siblings lived in separate group homes and Braison was adopted a year ago.
The hope is to work with Jordan’s future adoptive family and reconnect the brothers, according to Marlowe.
“His brother’s adoptive family has been agreeable to that and even if things go well, they said they would be willing to take them out on day passes so they could spend some good quality time together,” said Marlowe. “I’m really excited about this and very hopeful this is going to be the breakthrough we needed to find this kid a home.”
There are more than 7,700 Oklahoma children currently in foster care, according to the state’s Oklahoma Fosters initiative. Around 500 are ready for adoption.
OKDHS officials said they’re in need of foster families that can take care of older children, sibling groups, and children with special needs.
In Oklahoma, you can call the OKDHS hotline at 1-800-376-9729 to find out more information or fill out a form online here.