Luke 12:48b – “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”

Cole Williams is a hero to the teen boys in his home, especially his own 15-year-old son Nathan, who told him, “I’m proud of you, because you’re a really good father.”

Cole understands them. When he himself was 15, his mother moved to a subsidized apartment that did not have room for him. His former fifth-grade math teacher, Ralph Cantania, took him in. “I was grateful, but I didn’t know what to expect,” Cole recalled. “I was a young black man, and he was a white man.”

Cantania was in his mid-fifties, divorced and childless. “He was the nicest kid,” he said, “and he needed someone.” Cantania became Cole’s legal guardian, then learned the boy was going to be a father. “What impressed me was Cole’s promise, ‘My son is going to know who his father is.’”

Cole went to parenting groups and learned skills for raising his son. For about two years, Cole saw his son regularly and brought him home on weekends. Then Nathan came to stay for good.

Two years ago, the two moved back to Grand Rapids, Michigan, from New Jersey. Cole works for St. John’s Home, a foster care residential shelter program in Grand Rapids for children ages infant to 18 years old. “I saw kids come in with no place to go,” Cole said. “I want them to know that I am someone they can depend on.”

Cole, now a licensed foster parent through Lutheran Social Services of Michigan, is Dad to a home full of teenage boys. “This is a very real family,” Cole said. “These are my sons. We deal with real issues. It comes with real responsibilities. We’re dealing with children who were abused and neglected. It involves a lot of sacrifice. But the more you know, the more you owe. You can make a difference."

More foster homes are needed for hurting children and youth. Visit www.LutheranFosterCare.org.

Read the feature story about Cole Williams that ran in The Grand Rapids Press on Father’s Day, June 20, 2010.

Listen to the StoryCorps recording of Cole Williams and guardian Ralph Cantania.

Listen to the StoryCorps recording of Cole Williams and his 15-year-old son Nate.

Buy a half-price ticket to see the Pistons March 12 and help foster children in the process. Lutheran Social Services is joining other foster care providers and ARC of Hope in sponsoring Pack the Palace Suitcase Brigade. They are selling $40 tickets to the Pistons vs. Washington Wizards game at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 12 at The Palace of Auburn Hills for only $20 – and $10 from every ticket sold will be used to buy suitcases and essential items for foster children. Many children come into foster care with little more than the clothes on their backs. They carry their meager belongings in garbage bags or grocery bags. Help give them a suitcase of their own! You can also buy “Foster Fun” tickets for $20. These will be given to foster families to enable them to attend the game. The entire price of the $20 Foster Fun tickets is tax deductible. Lutheran Social Services has reserved a block of seats, so you can sit with your friends! Order tickets by March 5. Click here for a printable order form. Send checks  to Anita Jones at Lutheran Social Services, 8131 E. Jefferson Ave., Detroit, MI 48214. For more information, contact Anita at (313) 823-7983 or ajone@lssm.org.