NY1's Susan Jhun introduces this week's New Yorkers of the Week, a group that has been encouraging New Yorkers to adopt older kids.

They say there's no place like home.

Laquan Castro Thompson was a foster child for the first 10 years of his life, separated from his brother and moved around more times than he cares to remember. But that all changed when Sandra Shipp Thompson was inspired to adopt.

“A lot of people need help,” Laquan said. “A lot of people need counseling. People need family. From a kid, to a teenager, I don’t care how old you are, you need love, a parent, somebody that’s going to be there.”

“My two children were getting older and I have space and like kids and I’d like to help if I could,” Sandra said.

Sandra was inspired to adopt after listening to a presentation at her church led by Pat O'Brien. A child welfare advocate for more than 20 years and an adoptive parent, he had created an adoption agency called “You Gotta' Believe.”

“I was very astounded that in this field that people willingly discharged these kids to no one but themselves when they turned 18,” O’Brien said. “Then I looked at the research and found that half the homeless population are foster care discharges. And I just saw that incredible injustice to the point where nobody else was focusing on the issue.”

So eight years ago, O’Brien made it his focus to help kids like Laquan find homes before they got too old. He began recruiting families at churches, PTA meetings, anywhere to get the word out about the importance of adopting.

You Gotta' Believe holds a nine-week course to educate prospective parents giving them a chance to decide if they want to continue the adoption process.

“Our major message to the public is not adopt teens, but learn about adopting teens,” O’Brien said. “And we set up the forum for anybody to come in and do that.”

But most importantly, the courses offer tools to deal with the difficulties of raising a child who's never known stability.

“They take you through about everything,” Sandra said. “They take you through the reality of bringing someone into your home who you didn't know before and someone who didn't know you.”

After the course, the prospective parent is certified. Then the process of bringing the child home begins.

“I'm 22, I’m in school on a basketball scholarship,” said Thompson. “I got a 3.0 which is A-OK. It’s good. Things I never thought I'd be able to do I'm doing them. My life is getting better.”

And so for making home where the heart is, Pat O'Brien and “You Gotta' Believe” are NY1’s New Yorkers of the Week.

If you would like more information about "You Gotta Believe," visit www.yougottabelieve.org.

- Susan Jhun

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If you know someone who would make a good New Yorker of the Week, or if you have an idea for a story you'd like to see, send an email to nytonight@ny1.com, or mail a letter to:

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