Actually the only reason, and I mean only reason, I decided to take the plunge and install mods in my game was because I got Hearthfire. I'd find Sofie homeless and trying to sell flowers to eat and adopt her. I'd find Lucia begging for money and hear her tragic story and adopt her.
And I'd feel utterly terrible because Alesan and Blaise were living lives of indentured servitude, Alesan feel exhausted all the time and Blaise feeling miserably unloved, but I had to leave them living like that because if I took one of them in it meant a little girl would remain homeless and starving.
So I found a mod that lets me adopt all four of them. From now on, every single character I make will be adopting all four of the homeless children.
I feel the kids in the orphanage are actually doing a lot better than they were once Grelod is gone. A roof over their head, regular meals, Constance likes them and the possibility of adoption now exists. I don't ever adopt any them. I leave my last two potential adoption spaces open for kids who could potentially be orphaned in dragon or vampire attacks. It hasn't happened yet, but it pays to be prepared.
