Single Dad Who Has Fostered 36 Kids Adopts 2 Siblings! ‘I Can Be Their Forever Home’ (Exclusive)

Peter Mutabazi, a single Black dad who has fostered 36 kids (and previously adopted one!), just adopted two more children, he tells PEOPLE exclusively.

After previously adopting 17-year-old son Anthony Mutabazi in November 2019, on Sept. 22, Mutabazi legally adopted two siblings: 8-year-old Isabella Mutabazi and 7-year-old Luke Mutabazi.

“It’s absolutely a joy,” the proud dad, 49, tells PEOPLE. “I can be their forever home.”

Mutabazi shares his story of being a foster dad on Instagram (@fosterdadflipper) to show that not every family has to have the same skin color and to inspire other men to become active, involved dads.

In addition to opening up his home to children in need, Mutabazi is passionate about reuniting foster children with their biological parents. “I am a foster parent that will always, always fight for the bio parent to have their kids back, that’s my passion, to help,” he says.

But at the same time, he has an "open heart" and tells foster kids that if they cannot go home, they are welcome to stay with him forever.

In May 2020 a then 5-year-old girl named Brenlynn and a then 4-year-old Koleman came to Mutabazi's North Carolina home as foster kids. They had entered the system due to neglect from drugs, Mutabazi says. Social workers said it was a temporary placement and he would probably have the kids for about four months.

But after about eight months, the parents stopped visiting and calling the children. Mutabazi says he expected a relative to offer to raise the children. "I'm a Black guy, they are white kids," he says. "They're looking for a family member. But that never happened. No one took them in, no one claimed them."

In April 2023, the parental rights of the biological parents were terminated. “That’s when I knew that now, I can finally be their dad."

At the same time, it broke his heart. “I cried all day,” Mutabazi says. “The kids literally have a parent they dreamt could come back for them. But they’ve just given up. It’s a loss. I felt the loss for them.”

In June, he sat the two foster kids down and told them their mom and dad weren’t coming back — but that they could stay with him forever.

“I said, ‘Mom and Dad love you so much, but for now, they have decided that they don’t want to be parents,” he says. “There’s a loss. They lost Mom and Dad.”

On Sept. 11, all the kids in the family stayed home from school, and dressed up and went to the courthouse to officially fill out the paperwork and do a celebratory family photo shoot. While it was a joyful, happy day it was also bittersweet, he says.

“It was sad as well,” he says of the happy occasion. “Because it was the same place that the kids always visited their parents.”

The kids asked if their biological parents would be there when they went to the social services office.

“That really broke my heart,” Mutabazi says. “The last time they had been there was to see their parents.”

Opening up about his newly-adopted children, Mutabazi says Luke is “kind and sweet” — and loves drawing.

“He just always wants to help, and always wanted to be there, and wants to be held,” Mutabazi says, adding that “he wants to be a foster parent like his dad.”

Meanwhile, his older sister loves being with her friends, playing outside riding her scooter, and wants to be a veterinarian. “She’s the boss of the house,” he says.

Mutabazi shares updates about his family on Instagram, where he gives his foster children fake names and has them wear sunglasses to protect their identity. Luke and Isabella's 2-year-old sister, known on social as “Bella” is currently one of the foster kid in his home. (She came to him in September 2022 and is not currently eligible for adoption)

And about a month ago, he took in two more foster children from Africa: a 7-year-old boy and his 10-year-old sister, who are refugees from Senegal. “They have a mom who loves them,” he says, and is working to get resources so she can care for them herself.

His goal is to create a safe, stable home where kids feel loved, and feel like they belong — no matter what color their skin is.

“They’re white, I’m Black, but somehow we can still provide that normalcy and what every child needs: A family,” he says. “I’m blessed to do it.”

Last year he published a book, Now I Am Known, and launched the Now I am Known Foundation to raise money for foster kids

He also hopes to foster many more kids — and adopt more. “There’s so many kids that need a home,” he says. “If I can help two more, I’ll be more than happy.”