Parents provide their children with safety, security and a place to call home. They help guide their children as they grow up, and ideally, they are good role models for their children, showing them how to navigate the world.

Imagine growing up without parents. That safety and security wouldn’t be there. That guidance wouldn’t be there. It’d be hard to know right from wrong. It’d be hard to trust anyone.

Joe knows first hand how hard it is to grow up without loving parents. He was placed in the foster system when he was born, and he was never adopted.

Joe’s foster parents were not the role models he needed in his life. Thankfully, he found other role models in school. Joe told the Rachael Ray Show, “I was lucky that I found people in my life that I connected to. My high school coach, for one, was a lifesaver. He was like I think a father should be.”

Now, Joe is a bachelor who lives in the Bronx, NY. He’s always wanted to have children of his own. One day, he met someone from an adoption agency called You Gotta Believe. This adoption agency specifically focuses on finding parents who want to adopt older children.

The first child that Joe adopted through You Gotta Believe was an 18-year-old boy named Xavier. He is now 27-years-old and his children of his own. He credits Joe with showing him what it looks like to be a good dad.

After adopting Xavier, Joe caught the adoption bug, and almost every year since he’s adopted another boy. In fact, he has officially adopted 6 boys and is working on adopting a 7th boy.

When the Rachael Ray Show heard about Joe and his story, they wanted to do something nice for him. They brought him and all 7 boys on the show, 27-year-old Xavier, 21-year-old Ronny, 14-year-old Kamren, 20-year-old Jhon, 13-year-old Cinsere, 25-year-old Creemel and 24-year-old Johnathan.

Rachael had quite a few surprises in store for Joe and his family. First, she surprised him by bringing his high school coach, the one who was like a father figure to him, out on the stage. She also had a surprise trip ready for Joe’s whole family, and another surprise to help the boys in their future.

Watch the video below to hear more about Joe’s story, the boys he adopted, and to see his priceless reactions to all of the unexpected gifts and surprises.