On Jordan Benewiat’s eighth birthday, the celebration she might have hoped for never came. Instead, her mother already a heavy drinker spent the evening intoxicated and angry. The outburst turned violent, and the home became a scene of destruction. For Jordan and her brother, Jarred, this wasn’t new, but it was frightening all the same. When her mother’s boyfriend returned from a trip and saw the wreckage, he made the call that would change their lives he contacted the police. That night, both children were placed into foster care.
Among those who cared about Jordan and Jarred was Steven Benewiat. Though not related by blood, he had built a bond with them and couldn’t bear the thought of them being separated. When no other foster placement could take both siblings, Steven fought for them. The state granted him emergency foster rights, and that day, Jordan witnessed something she would never forget the first time she saw Steven cry.
“I didn’t understand why he was crying at first,” Jordan remembers. “When he told me it was because he thought we were being taken away, I started crying too. He just hugged me until we had to leave the courtroom. It felt like a miracle when we were allowed to stay with him.”
It would take three long years before Steven could legally adopt them. But from the moment they entered his care, life transformed.
“My dad gave me the safety and stability I had never known,” Jordan says. “Before him, my brother and I worried about everything whether we’d eat, go to school, or if our mom would drink herself to death. With him, I could finally ride my bike, join sports, go to school without fear, and never wonder if dinner would be there. He gave me back my childhood.”
Years later, Jordan decided to share their story on TikTok. She wanted the world to know about the man who had stepped in and never stepped back. The response was overwhelming over 9 million views and 1.4 million likes.
“To see so many people thank him for being a good man it was incredible,” Jordan says. “I just want to be worthy of the sacrifices he made for two kids who had nothing left. This love people are showing him feels like the recognition he’s always deserved.”
For Jordan, the adoption wasn’t the end of the story it was the start of healing. “Our dad is our hero,” she says. “He’s never let us down, not once. And that’s something you can’t put a price on.”
