❤️ Super Dad – a new hero origin story

📝 Repeat after me: "You are seen. You belong. You matter. You’re chosen. You’re not alone. You’re a gift. You’re loved." 

As you walk through Peter Mutabazi's North Carolina home, you will see quotes like these decorating the house. The affirmations cover the fridge, and are also embroidered on the dogs' collars for everyone in the family to read often. The single dad's goal is to make sure all of his kids feel safe and loved at home. 

• Peter has been a foster dad since 2016. Since taking on the responsibility, he's had more than three dozen children come in and out of his home.
• The dedicated dad is part of less than 3% of foster parents made up of single men. As a Black man, he makes up an even smaller minority.

🇺🇬 Humble beginnings... His desire to foster came from first-hand knowledge of what it’s like to be a child on their own. Peter ran away from an abusive home at only 10 years old, and was forced to raise himself on the streets of Kampala, Uganda.

It wasn’t until a kind stranger noticed him and offered to pay for his boarding school that Peter got back on his feet.

• After graduating and moving to America to get his masters degree two decades ago, Peter decided to become a foster parent to help children in similar situations. Now, with three adopted children of his own, he's proving daily that a loving family is one of the most valuable things you can offer a child.

🫶 Love knows no color... Peter's three adopted children are white, but, as he says, "a healthy family is based on love, not skin color." 

He hopes his mixed family encourages other people to consider fostering and adopting, regardless of their skin color. He has no choice over which children come in and out of his home – he's fostered white, Latino, Native American, and Black children. 

• Above all else, Peter prioritizes creating a safe and loving environment for every single child that comes through his doors. According to CNN, Peter says that overcoming his childhood trauma and becoming the father he wished he had is one of his biggest joys.
• “[A loving home] is what I needed the most and no one ever did [that] for me," he shared. "I was never held. As a kid, affection was never given to me. All I thought about was survival, survival, survival." 

📝 Bottom line: By opening his heart and his home to these children in need, Peter is breaking cycles and hopefully inspiring future generations.

“I’m a girl dad now. Sometimes it feels surreal,” he says about his children. “I look at them and I can’t believe that they are my kids, they have my last name. I can’t believe that this once homeless and hopeless person has now created this crazy family filled with love.”

P.S. This story was originally published in Positive DONUT in October 2023. It was so sweet we had to share it again🥰.