KarunaNews Story

When caseworker Leah Peskaledis pledged to find an adoptive family for Monyay, she didn't realize that she would be that family. Now the Florida woman and her newly-adopted 19-year-old daughter are celebrating their first Mother's Day together by urging others to consider adopting older kids and teens. The pair have had a strong bond since they met, when Monyay was 13, but her job meant Leah couldn't adopt Monyay until she aged out of the foster care system. Knowing that she would be on her own when she turned 18 drove Monyay to work so hard in school that she graduated early.