On Friday, December 21, CBS will air the 20th anniversary of its annual “A Home For The Holidays” special. The special shares inspirational stories about families who adopted children from foster care.<\/p>\n
It also features musical performances.<\/p>\n
This year, Gwen Stefani, Lukas Graham and Train will perform. The special will also feature a performance by Andy Grammer from the annual Grove Tree Lighting.<\/p>\n
LL Cool J will host the broadcast.<\/p>\n
Three of this year’s stories will be updates on families that were previously featured on the special. The fourth story will introduce a new family to viewers. Official details follow:<\/p>\n
Farmakis Family \u2013 Elkhorn, Wis. (Featured in 2009)<\/p>\n
Minuette and younger sister, Josette, had a brutal childhood. \u201cGrowing up, it was hard because our mother was a drug addict,\u201d says Josette. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have food, and we were both physically abused.\u201d Eventually taken into foster care, the sisters were separated and lived in eight different homes before they were adopted by Dan and Angie Farmakis in 2007. Currently, Josette, 25, is following her dream of becoming a nurse. \u201cOur parents looked past the trauma we\u2019d gone through and saw us for who we really are. It feels like I\u2019ve always been their daughter,\u201d she says. Minuette, 27, is living her dream of working as a social worker at the same agency that placed her and her sister with their family. \u201cWorking with kids like us in foster care is not only a privilege, it\u2019s an honor,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Felipe and Rafael Mosqueda \u2013 Marathon, Wis. (Featured in 2002)<\/p>\n
Brothers Felipe and Rafael were desperate to stay together and running out of time. By ages 15 and 12, the boys had lived in more than seven foster placements and were considered unadoptable. \u201cMy brother and I were on the verge of being separated, and that was the scariest thing imaginable,\u201d says Felipe. \u201cWhen we met these boys, I knew we could make such a difference in their lives, and we adopted them in March 2002,\u201d says Erika Albrecht. Today, Felipe and Rafael are both married with children and have successful careers. \u201cOur parents raised us with so much love. My brother and I wouldn\u2019t be where we are today if it wasn\u2019t for adoption,\u201d says Felipe. \u201cMy brother and I were best man at each other\u2019s wedding, and my wife and I have talked about adopting in the future,\u201d says Rafael.<\/p>\n
Oden Family \u2013 Los Angeles (Featured in 2015)<\/p>\n
Kenneth and Evette Oden took a leap of faith and saw potential in two foster children who were born exposed to drugs. \u201cWhen we first met Kyle, I remember holding him really close to my chest. He looked right in my eyes, and I just knew that he was my son,\u201d says Evette. \u201cAbout a year later, we got a phone call that there was a little girl who needed immediate placement,\u201d says Kenneth. \u201cThe bond we felt with Kynnedy was just as strong.\u201d Kyle, now 20, took honors classes in high school and earned an academic scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania. Kynnedy, 19, is a sophomore at San Francisco State University.<\/p>\n
The following family is being featured on the special for the first time:<\/p>\n
Pascucci Family \u2013 Syracuse, N.Y.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I wasn\u2019t adopted by my parents at 17, I wouldn\u2019t be where I am now,\u201d says Ethan Pascucci. \u201cI lived my early childhood with a parent who was a drug addict. I was 9 when my stepfather was stabbed to death in the home where I slept. My journey into foster care began that night.\u201d John Pascucci had been in Iraq for 15 months as a combat engineer. \u201cWhen I would see a child waving to us at one o\u2019clock in the morning, it made me think every child, no matter how old they are, needs the love and security of a family,\u201d he says. He and his wife, Karen, decided to adopt from foster care. \u201cOur original plan was to adopt a 9 to 12-year-old girl, but we fell in love with a 16-year-old boy who was 6\u20193\u201d,\u201d says John. \u201cI was finally looking at parents who would love me for a lifetime, and that changed everything,\u201d says Ethan. He began taking AP and honors classes and signed up for crew. He became a star rower in high school and was awarded an athletic scholarship to Syracuse University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The holiday special will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":121872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[1048],"tags":[3588,275,2232,5405,2462],"adace-sponsor":[],"yoast_head":"\n