Raising Her Voice to Raise Others—Catching Up With Tori Hope Petersen

Article by Sara Freitag | Photography by Hannah Volz

Tori Hope Petersen is a foster mom, foster care advocate, writer, and speaker with a heart to vulnerably raise her own voice in order to raise the voices of others. Her experience in foster care as a former foster youth, foster care advocate, and foster mom fuels her life’s passion to raise up and nurture her own family, as well as advocate for the restoration of family. We’ve gotten to know Tori since she came to our Women Speakers Collective bootcamp in New York City in February of 2020—and we are honored to benefit from her powerful voice as a coach in our Global Collective community. Tori is currently leading a cohort on the topic of “Telling Your Story: From Trial to Triumph,” and we could not be happier that she has chosen to share her own story over the years—as well as guide others in doing so. We recently caught up with her to discover more about her heart and her journey through foster care and foster care advocacy.

Vulnerability changes lives.

Tori was thirteen when a younger girl in her group home threw a picture frame of Tori and her sister out the window—and the young teen angrily wondered, “why is this girl like this?” Well, she soon found out. After the incident, they were sitting in their group together, and the other girl shared that she had previously been adopted by abusive parents and then re-adopted by parents who had trafficked her. And Tori thought to herself, “oh, this girl has a reason to be so angry.”

As the saying goes, “hurt people hurt people.” But Tori has flipped that around and chosen to live by the motto, “healed people can help heal people.”

Ever since the girl in the group home shared about her past, Tori has been inspired to also live a life that’s marked by vulnerability. She’s chosen to open up and share her own story in order to make an impact on others. Tori says, “I share my life vulnerably with hopes to let my Abba Father be known and loved through stories, to offer hope to the hurting, and to serve people from all kinds of backgrounds.”

“Healed people can help heal people.”

-Tori Hope Petersen

And that she does, through a multitude of avenues.

Today, Tori is a mom of three—having recently adopted a young man she and her husband had been fostering for some time—as well as a foster mom to three. She utilizes her platform on social media, as well as her speaking engagements, to share her writing and stories—and in 2020, she and her husband Jacob founded the non-profit, Bring Beloved. This non-profit not only raises awareness about foster care, but it empowers foster youth and former foster youth by utilizing art that they themselves have created. This artwork is hung on billboards across the nation, encouraging people to become informed and make a difference where they can. And regarding the foster youth and former foster youth, being involved in something like this yields the additional outcome of cultivating a sense of purpose within their hearts. The kids often ask, “can you tag me in that picture? Can you tell everybody that this is my art?” And this is exactly the type of response that excites Tori. “They’re proud of it,” Tori shares. “That’s what we want…we want them to be proud of the work they do, and we want them to see that their purpose is greater—that they have a purpose, that there is a plan for their life, and that they can use the gifts God has given them.” The verse, Genesis 50:20 is the anthem verse for the non-profit, stating, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done through the saving of many lives.”

God is a God of redemption and healing—and that can be seen all over Tori’s life. In fact, she plans to release a book of memoirs, and it is set to be published through Lifeway B&H in August of 2022. She may only be in her 20s, but she already has a lifetime of wisdom to share with the world. And we’re grateful that she’s sharing some of that wisdom with our April cohort. The topic, “Telling Your Story: From Trial to Triumph,” is right in line with her heart to vulnerably raise her voice in order to make a lasting impact on others. We’re excited to see the lives that are changed, thanks to her willingness to share her own experiences and encourage others to share theirs. She says, “In opening up, being vulnerable, and allowing others to be vulnerable with us, we’re stepping into this place of healing, and then we’re also allowing others to heal.” It can be so easy to feel like we’re alone, but the second that we begin vulnerably sharing with others, we find that we’re not nearly as alone as we thought.

For those who are looking to also begin raising their own voices in vulnerability, Tori encourages us to do so, not for our own benefit, but for the benefit of others. “I think if we just keep that at the forefront of our minds while we are stepping into a role of advocacy,” she shares, “we’re going to do what is in the best interest of those we are advocating for.”