For Peter Mutabazi, hearing a child call him “Dad” still stops him in his tracks.

The Charlotte father has fostered 47 children over the past nine years as a single parent, opening his home to children in foster care.

“I was single most of life, wasn’t a parent at all. So, being a dad wasn’t something part of my everyday life,” Peter said.

Now, he says hearing one simple word never gets old.

“It’s a joy (to hear) a kid say, ‘Dad!’ What, me?” he told Queen City News.

Many people online know him as “Foster Dad Flipper” through his social media posts about foster care and adoption. Behind those videos is Peter’s own story of growing up in Uganda and experiencing abuse and instability as a child before someone took him in.

“I think for me, I was one of those kids,” he said. “I came from an abusive family. I was unwanted, never felt safe at any time as a little boy.”

Peter says that experience led him to become the adult he once needed.

Earlier this month, he shared news about adopting one of the children he fostered. In a social media post, he said that after spending 1,640 days in foster care, a boy named Jacob had officially become Elijah Mutabazi.

“Today marks 395 days since he first came into my life. Before that, he had already spent 1,640 days in foster care, a long and unimaginable journey of waiting, moving, and hoping for the place he could finally call home,” Peter wrote.

“Today is Day 1 of a new chapter, as Jacob officially becomes Elijah Mutabazi. A name that represents not just a change, but a promise of love, of stability, of forever. Being adopted is more than a milestone; it’s the beginning of a lifetime of belonging, security, and unconditional love.”

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