SARASOTA – The All Star Children’s Foundation welcomed Zion Clark to Sarasota, as he advocates for the foster care system.
Athlete, Motivational Speaker, and Author, Zion Clark was thrown into the foster care system for 17 years in Ohio, after his birth mother was unable to care for him. Clark was born without legs due to caudal regression syndrome.
“I suffered a lot of different things, physical abuse, mental abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse,” said Athlete, and Motivational speaker, Zion Clark.
Growing up, Clark focused on his love for music and wrestling but still went through tough times
“It just kind of stayed like that til I got adopted and when I got adopted my mom gave me that sense of comfort and stability, and I was able to progress my skills in the classroom, on the map, on the track and by the time I finished high school I was one of the most accomplished wrestlers in the state of Ohio,” said Clark.
Zion is the first American athlete to compete in both the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo for wrestling and wheelchair racing. Also, holding the Guinness World Record for “Fastest Man on Two Hands.
“I feel like I never would have had these chances if my mom didn’t give me the opportunity to live,” said Clark.
The need for foster parents is urgent state and nationwide.
“We are actively recruiting foster parents to come live on our campus, if you come to our campus as a foster parent, you can come here and you know you will be supported, we have these beautiful homes that were sitting in right now and we also have a community of care just being at this campus,” said Chief Development Officer of the All Star Children’s Foundation.
Clark now advocates the need for foster care across the country.
“There will always be somebody of a group of people that will be willing to help you, especially here at all star, these are those exact group of people that are down to help these kids, not just here in Sarasota, but kids in all of Florida and sooner than later I hope in all of America and after that all across the world,” said Clark.
All Star Children’s Foundation is actively looking for foster parents. For more information, you can visit their website here.