DENVER (KDVR) — Twin brothers from South Carolina are walking across part of the Denver metro area hoping to inspire change for children in the foster care system.
Davon and Tavon Woods are on a mission to walk 10 to 20 miles in all 50 states across the U.S.
“Every mile, every step we take is for a kid in the foster care system,” Davon said.
Brothers hope to inspire foster care solutions
The twins were born into the foster care system because their biological mother was addicted to drugs during her pregnancy. They were adopted when they were toddlers.
“But when everybody hears adoption, they be like, ‘Oh, congratulations! Must be nice.’ But in all reality, it was the complete opposite. Never heard ‘I love you’ no affection. Everything that a kid deserves, it was like we was missing out on that,” Davon said.
According to Davon, the brothers wanted to share their story to help other foster kids going through a tough time. They decided on walking after seeing a social media post from a man walking to support mental health.
“Growing up, we didn’t have anybody to walk the extra mile for us, so by us sacrificing our lives to get on these dangerous highways to put our life on the line for these kids, at the end of the day, I think that’s what matters,” Davon said.
The two hope their journey gets more people talking about flaws within the foster care system and inspires solutions.
“Never done anything like this in my life, but at the end of the day, it’s not about how you feel sometimes and it’s not about how your physical body may be feeling, because you have kids being abused, raped, molested. So although that walking 20 miles may be hard, at the end of the day it’s worth it,” Davon said.
Removal process ‘traumatic’ for foster children
“The community thinks that CPS (Child Protective Services) is like this great thing and we’re saving kids when we’re really we’re not. We’re destroying these kids, because the removal process itself is a traumatic event,” Dominique Mallard said.
Mallard is a former foster child in Colorado and now runs a non-profit called C.A.R.E.S.
“We wanted to start something to make sure that children felt protected, they felt like they had a voice and they felt like they were heard,” she said.
Mallard walked alongside the Woods brothers Friday morning from Lakewood to Denver. They ended at the Colorado Capitol building.
“I really hope comes change. That’s the purpose. Nobody is out here walking for nothing,” Mallard said. “I hope that this change today lets our legislators and our state senators know like, hey, this is what we’re doing and we need you guys to hear us.”
