Hi listeners! Welcome back to the podcast! This is season 5 (can you believe it?) and episode 117! I took a few weeks off to enjoy my family over the holidays and to spend some time on a few exciting things I have in the works, so I appreciate your patience as I took a break from putting out the podcast. But now we’re back and there are a lot of exciting episodes coming up in this season and I can’t wait to introduce them to you!

Did you know that 20% of the youth that age out of the foster care system are instantly homeless. Tori Hope Petersen was one of those young adults who decided it would be easier to go it alone than have to navigate the system that caused her so much pain, having been in 12 foster homes from the ages of 12-18. But Tori was blessed to have mentors to come alongside her and help, eventually becoming adopted by her track coach.

Tori’s mom came from brokenness and generational curses and did the best she knew how, but Tori has become intentional about breaking those curses in her own family. She also does advocacy in the foster care system and has written two books, Fostered: One Woman’s Powerful Story of Finding Faith and Family Through Foster Care, and her just released book, Breaking the Patterns that Break You: Healing from the Pain of Your Past and Finding Real Hope That Lasts.

As I spoke to Tori, I realized that, even though she’s still so young, her experiences have made her wise beyond her years.

If Tori’s story encouraged you would you kindly leave a rating and a review on your favorite podcast app? You can go to my Facebook or Instagram at Building Strong Homes and find a video there that will show you how to do that if you’re not familiar with the process.

For show notes go to carolroper.org/podcast