DALLAS — Here's a special Wednesday's Child update.
When WFAA first met Evan in 2020, he was 9 years old and had faith that he would be adopted.
“I’m going to get a forever family,” he said in the 2020 interview.
Evan knew his Wednesday’s Child feature would help him, and so did his caseworker Emmanuel Harris.
“My hope for him that someone sees this taping and [it] touches their heart and opens up their home for him,” said Harris at the time.
When Evan didn’t get adopted the first time. WFAA did another story – and it was successful!
WFAA is thrilled to announce that after five years in foster care, two Wednesday Child features and a whole lot of prayers, 11-year-old Evan was adopted in October 2022.
His parents sent pictures of their new family. One picture is from Evan’s adoption day on Oct. 13. Evan has two dads, a little sister and a little brother.
In another picture, Evan and his two younger siblings are all decked out in their Halloween costumes.
Evan’s dad Cliff said he saw the Wednesday’s Child feature last December. He said he recognized Evan from the elementary school where he worked as a paraprofessional helping students with special needs, including Evan.
Cliff said at that moment, he knew there was more he could do.
In a statement to WFAA, Cliff said in part, “A rush of emotions flooded my soul because I could not wrap my mind around this sweet boy not having a loving family to call his own. Without a second thought, my partner, Cory, insisted that we reach out to his caseworker to bring our son home to us!”
“As parents, we possess a profound love and immense respect for our son Evan and hope that one day we can be as heroic and resilient as he is,” said Cliff.
Some things you can just see, and it's clear that Evan is happy. Congratulations to the McManus family! Evan, thanks for keeping the faith!
The full statement from Evan's dads, Cory and Cliff McManus, is below:
"I (Clifford) met Evan at Anette Perry Elementary in Mansfield, TX. He was a student in the classroom across the hall from the classroom where I worked as a paraprofessional. Evan had a few challenging moments during this school year, and God blessed me with the ability to participate in showing him how to work through those challenging moments and bring that contagious smile of his back to his face. This was also the year that COVID hit, so the last I knew, Evan was in the process of becoming adopted by what was supposed to be his forever family.
Fast forward to December 15th, 2021, his former teacher, Mrs. Cooks, shared his spotlight on Wednesday's child with me through Facebook Messenger. A rush of emotions flooded my soul because I could not wrap my mind around this sweet boy not having a loving family to call his own. Without a second thought, my partner, Cory, insisted that we reach out to his caseworker to bring our son home to us!
Although our love for Evan had indicated he is our son long before any legalities came into play, on October 13th, 2022, at 12:00 P.M., with the help of Evan’s outstanding professional team and through God’s loving guidance, Evan officially became a McManus, and FOREVER out of Foster Care.
As parents, we possess a profound love and immense respect for our son Evan and hope that one day we can be as heroic and resilient as he is. Evan has two younger siblings who love and look up to him, and he is soaring in his schooling as a fifth grader known for showing honesty, respect, and leadership inside and outside the classroom.
Foster Care is hard on our youth because they grieve a loss that no child should ever experience, but it only takes one phone call to CPS to change a child’s life and offer hope. We strongly encourage anyone capable of providing love and safety to a child in need through Fostering!"
If you would like to read more Wednesday's Child stories, and to learn about the adoption process, click here.