Born at Two Pounds, Forgotten by Many, Fighting for Thousands
Their names are Davon and Tavon Woods. They were born at Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital in Sumter, South Carolina, born into a world that had already decided their fate before they took their first breath.
Their biological mother was battling drug addiction during her pregnancy. She never visited the hospital while she was pregnant. She did not even know she was having twins.
When the brothers arrived, they weighed just two pounds each and tested positive for crack cocaine.
They were placed directly into the foster care system from the hospital, without ever going home.
For nearly two years, they waited.
At age two, they were adopted. Most people assume that is where the hard part ends.
For Davon and Tavon, it was not.
The family that took them in gave them a roof and stability, but not warmth.
Growing up, the brothers say they never once heard the words I love you. There was no affection, no emotional connection.
They felt like they did not belong. They had no idea who they were or where they came from.
For 17 years, they knew nothing about their biological family. As children, the weight of all that silence was almost unbearable.
But they held on. And eventually, they decided to turn that pain into purpose.
In May 2022, after hearing about someone walking across America to raise awareness for mental health, Davon had an idea.
He called Tavon. Within days, they had a plan.
Within a week and a half, they were walking, 96 miles in four and a half days from Statesboro, Georgia, to Jacksonville, Florida, along roadsides with no training and no backup plan.
Just faith and two pairs of shoes.
The response from the public was overwhelming. People honked. People stopped. People cried.
And so the brothers kept going.
Over the next two years, Davon and Tavon quit their jobs, walked through more than 20 states, traveled to Puerto Rico and even Guam, and became the face of a growing movement under the hashtag FosterKidsMatter.
One of them lost everything. One of them lost a son during the journey.
They kept walking.
Then, on December 1, 2023, they stepped up to the Sumter County Courthouse, the city where they were born and taken away, and began their most ambitious walk yet.
Six hundred miles. Thirty-one days. Sumter, South Carolina to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Each carrying one backpack. Each wearing a pair of Hoka shoes donated to them. Averaging 15 or more miles a day.
The road was dangerous. On the very first day, a car nearly struck Tavon as it tried to pass another vehicle.
They walked along the shoulder of highways, logging every mile, speaking to every person who would listen.
When the physical toll became too much to walk every single step between distant cities, they rented a car to travel between stops, and walked significant miles in each location they visited.
Davon addressed it directly. Even if we was walking one mile in every place we went, it is about the effort, the dedication, and the passion.
No one can argue with that. Because what they were carrying was never just about mileage.
Foster kids matter so much to us because we was once a product of that, Tavon said. We got taken away at birth. A lot of kids go through the system and they just go about life. But me and Davon, we wanted to be different. We wanted to speak up for other kids, and that is what we have been doing.
On December 30 and 31, 2023, the brothers arrived in Philadelphia and began their final push, a 24-hour walk starting at the iconic Rocky Steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in memory of every child who died while in the foster care system.
One mile at a time, through the night, until the new year began.
They made it.
By the end of the journey, the twins had completed walks in 25 states and counting, inspired communities across the country, and proven something that no statistic ever could.
That two people who were given almost nothing at birth can choose to give everything back.
There are over 400,000 children in the American foster care system right now. Many of them feel invisible. Many of them wonder if anyone is paying attention.
Davon and Tavon Woods want those children to know the answer.
Someone is out there, walking for them, one mile at a time.
We do the hard part, Tavon said. We do the speaking out, just so that we can shine a light on that system.
And they are still walking.
For those who have turned 17 years of silence into purpose, or who understand that what you carry is never just about mileage, which moment taught you that two people given almost nothing at birth can choose to give everything back and that 400,000 children in foster care have someone walking for them one mile at a time?
