November was National Adoption Awareness Month, and thanks to Monroe County Children and Youth and the huge hearts of several families, four children were adopted into their forever families at the Monroe County Courthouse.

After the adoptions were certified by Monroe County Court of Common Pleas Judge Steve Higgins, the judge took a few minutes to congratulate the new families and tell them, “This is one of the best parts of being a judge,” and added that on adoption day you get to hear a lot of happy cases.

Next, the new families hurried off to Christian Life Assembly Church in Stroudsburg to join Monroe County Children and Youth’s ninth annual “adoption day” party with other local adoption families.

“This is really a celebration of two years of adoptions, because the pandemic canceled the annual event last year,” said Liz Johnson, the wife of Craig Johnson, the pastor of Christian Life Assembly.

The Johnsons have several adopted children and work closely with Monroe County Children and Youth.

“It is incredible how complete your home becomes when you adopt,” Craig Johnson said.

Walking into the church building, there was no doubt there was definitely a celebration going on. Huge bunches of colorful balloons and streamers hung everywhere, and music and laughter filled the building. There was so much hugging it was hard to tell the previous adopting families from the new families.

One family’s story

Parents Larissa Folio and husband, Mark, from Effort are extremely busy. One parent is a teacher and one is an EMT, and raising seven children, four of which are adopted, makes a full day.

“But we wouldn’t have it any other way,” Larissa Folio said.

“When having our son, there were complications and he is the only child I could have. We wanted to have more children. We couldn’t imagine not sharing that love with other children,” Larissa Folio said.

The Folio family grew again in July 2020 when they adopted their 3-year-old son Jameson and now were finally able to come to the postponed event to celebrate their son Jameson along with the new families.

According to Monroe County Children and Youth, there are about 165 children who are currently in foster care, and the agency hopes events like the adoption day party will raise awareness for the need to adopt.

Every child deserves to have loving parents who love them, no matter what their age.