The Vega Family

One of the many paintings created by David Vega hangs in his bedroom, while others are displayed throughout the home he shares with his dads, Felix Vega and Israel Alicea. One piece, titled Family Moon, was submitted to the 2025 Fostering Creativity Art Showcase.

When describing the painting, David explained:

"The black in my painting represents me before I met my parents. I was in a dark place and didn't really know where I was going to go. The moon represents the light and joy I found when I was blessed with my dads. The gold represents all the love and light they have brought into my life."

In just a few brushstrokes, David captured a journey that took years to unfold.

The darkness David described in his painting wasn't permanent, but simply one chapter of a much larger story which would eventually bring together three people whose lives had been moving toward one another for years.

While David was waiting for a permanent family, Felix Vega and Israel Alicea were navigating their own winding path to parenthood. The couple, originally from Puerto Rico and together for nearly 35 years, first contacted MARE in 2011 to learn more about adoption. A few months later, Felix started to volunteer for the organization, working to recruit and support Latino families alongside Ricardo Franco, who was MARE’s Family Support Services Coordinator at the time.

Together, the couple completed MAPP training and began the licensing process. But their path forward was anything but smooth. Unexpected staffing changes, delays, and challenges with the homestudy process left Felix and Israel in limbo. Ready to welcome a child into their home, they instead found themselves waiting.

Determined to help youth in foster care while they pursued adoption, the couple opened their home as a short-term placement resource for teens in need of a safe place to stay. Over the next two years, they welcomed dozens of young people into their home.

The experience was life-changing, but it was also incredibly difficult.

Each time a young person moved on, Felix and Israel found themselves saying goodbye to someone they had grown to care about. Eventually, they decided to close their home to new placements and focus on healing their hearts.

Since entering foster care, David had experienced nine different placements. Having survived leukemia, he needed a family that could provide for his medical needs, advocate for him in school, and offer the unconditional love and stability every young person deserves.

Although Felix and Israel's home had been closed, David's Child Services Coordinator believed they could be a strong match and reached out to Ricardo Franco for his thoughts. Ricardo immediately agreed. Excited by the possibility, Ricardo called Felix and left a message. Then he waited. And waited.

About a week later, Ricardo finally received a call. The connection was spotty since Felix was in Puerto Rico mourning the recent loss of his mother. Grief had kept him away from his phone, but when he heard Ricardo's message, something shifted.

"It healed my heart," Felix later recalled, explaining how he felt that this was meant to be.

 Photos and video courtesy of Jonathan Cabot

Felix and Israel were first evaluated as a Visiting Connection for David. They met with David's adoption worker in June of 2016 and met David in person at a MARE Meet and Greet in July.

As the year progressed, David, Felix, and Israel slowly got to know one another. It was a long transition, but Ricardo and other MARE staff were there every step of the way to offer encouragement, liaise with DCF, and provide support and resources.

"Back then, I was always scared to open up to people. I was very, very shy," David recalled. "I had trust issues from being in DCF and going to multiple foster homes. I kind of gave up on trusting people."

Felix remembers those early days as well. "It was a little bit difficult at first because he was very shy and slow to open up to people. He really didn't say much at first," he said.

In September, David asked them to come to an event at his residential program. By October, David was asking his adoption worker if he could live with Felix and Israel when it was time to leave his program. As the relationship deepened, weekend visits became routine, and David started to open up more as Felix and Israel were able to take him to different community events. 

Then, on August 9, 2017, David officially moved in and shortly afterwards, the adoption was finalized. Their first trip as a family and one of their most memorable early experiences was traveling together to Disney World through the Make-A-Wish Foundation shortly before David's birthday. 

Looking back, David says it was the little things that helped him settle into his new home. "As silly as this sounds, something that my dads did that helped me feel more comfortable early on was that we'd all play the Wii together," he said.

That experience shaped the advice he now gives to families hoping to adopt an older child. "Give them time to adapt. Don't try to rush them into becoming someone different. Let them explore their own interests, and remember that they're scared, too."

Today, the Vega household is filled with the simple routines and shared adventures that once felt out of reach: cooking dinner together, attending reptile expos, visiting family, and supporting one another through life's challenges.

When asked what family means to him, David shared, "Family means doing everything together. Knowing when someone's sad or even if your day is hard and you don't feel like doing anything, you should always be there for one another." 

When reflecting on his journey to becoming a father, Felix shared that trust is the foundation of every family, and earning David's trust remains one of his proudest accomplishments. "The thing you need to have in a family is trust," he said. "The day David called me 'Papa' was one of the happiest moments of my life. I have a son, and I get to help him. That's my life. David is my life."

For Israel, becoming a parent was a journey of discovery. "I did not know how to be a father," he said. "There is no book to tell you. This is something I discovered by walking the walk."

For David, adoption gave him something he had long hoped for.

"My adoption completed my life," he said. "It's made me happy and a lot freer than where I was."

As David wrote about his painting, Family Moon, the gold represents "all the love and light that my dads have brought into my life." Looking around the home they have built together, filled with art, framed family photos, pet tarantulas, and the smell of something delicious simmering on the stove, it's easy to see that love and light in the everyday moments they share as a family.