Horace Atwater Jr. (right) took in Adrian Hawkins (left) as a foster child when he was about 14 years old. Until then, Adrian, who had lived in several group and foster homes, remembers, “times being hungry, seeing drugs and all kinds of stuff.”

At StoryCorps, Horace tells Adrian about the very personal experience he had with his own family that led him to care so deeply for a stranger.

Originally aired June 14, 2013, on NPR’s Morning Edition.