In Allegheny County, according to Walter Howard Smith Jr., PhD, deputy director of the Allegheny County Department of Human Services Office of Children, Youth and Families, there are 47 youths waiting to be permanently matched with families. Of those 47, 32 are African-American youth. He also said about 40 percent of those African-Americans are teenagers.
“These are kids who, through no fault of their own, have been a victim of circumstances and need a sense of community, of family and belonging,” said Smith. “We want kids to find a permanent family so that when they get to be 19 and 29 and 39, they have a sense of family. It’s not enough to grow up in a program and then you get to be 18, or 19, or 21 and suddenly you’re on your own. That’s not good enough. We want kids to have a strong sense that through their lives they are part of something called family, so that they can depend on and use family as a foundation through which they can live a better life.”
While there can be a number of reasons why youth end up in the system, such as the death of a parent and where no other family member is available, Smith said the top reason is because of neglect—where a parent cannot provide adequate care or supervision for a child—and there is no one else in the family to take over.
Smith went on to say, “I’m very proud of the Taylors. They’ve done a fabulous job and have made a difference in the lives of those teenagers.”
The Taylors, who are now in their seventies, began taking in youths after their biological children had “left the nest” and James, who had suffered from a heart attack, was laid up at home. They were looking for something to do and someone mentioned to them that Pressley Ridge had a program where they could receive training to become foster parents. In tune with their giving spirit, along with feeling like they had a lot to offer and recognizing that the need to help pre-teens and teenagers was so great, the Taylors completed the training, became certified and received their clearances.
James Taylor Jr., owner of JT’s at the Club in Monroeville and one of the Taylors’ sons, admits that when his parents first approached him and his siblings with the idea of being foster parents he was a little leery.
“I thought they were doing it for the money because you hear people talk about how great the money is,” he said. “But as more and more (kids) came, I could see what the kids meant to mom and dad and how their heart was really in it. Especially when you could see the change in the kids.”
He added, “Mom and dad are amazing and very, very patient. And, without a doubt, loving. If you weren’t loving, there’s no way on God’s earth you’d be into this. You couldn’t handle it.”
But James Jr. wasn’t the only one not open to the idea of adding to their family. He said when his parents first began to take in new youth, in the ‘90s, the neighbors were not so supportive. He recalled a time when one of the neighbors on their, then, predominantly White-street had called his “new brother,” who was Black and, as he describes, physically strong and able to run up trees, a “kunta kid.”
But over time, the Taylors say the community has changed and so has James Jr. Now, he sees each one of the boys as his brothers.
Robert, 17, the newest addition to the Taylor household as of two-years ago and who is a student at Penn Hills High School and attends Forbes Road Career & Technology Center in Monroeville for culinary arts, said, “It’s a real nice experience to feel loved and wanted. From where I was and where I am now, I never would’ve thought I’d turn into the person I am today. She looked at me and said, ‘he can become something.’”
Robert was matched with the Taylors after his foster mother had died and he had been in a shelter. Now, since being with the Taylors, he assists at JT’s and one day hopes to do the same thing they have done for him—adopt an older child and give them a life.
When asked what he would say to the Taylors to express his appreciation, Robert said, “Thank you wouldn’t be the appropriate words. I can show them how I feel better than I can tell them. (I can do that) by becoming something or someone. What they saw in me, that I didn’t see in myself, I want to be what they saw.”
Like Robert, the Taylors’ other son Anthony is just as grateful. Anthony, 19, and who is in his senior year at Penn Hills High School, was matched with the Taylors approximately 10 years ago. He had had an abusive life and was unable to read. With love and nurture, the Taylors helped him. Now, he reads every evening and participates in the Project SEARCH High School Transition Program, a one-year school-to-work program that provides hands on experience by taking place entirely at the workplace. He is training with UPMC Mercy Hospital in the dietary, maintenance and linen departments.
“I know mom and dad care about me, they love me and would do everything for me. They support me and I wouldn’t ask for better parents than them,” he said. “I love them to death.”
Anthony said if it was not for the Taylors he would probably be locked up or dead.
Like Anthony, the Taylor’s youngest son, Jordan, 15, says he is lucky to have been matched with the Taylors as well.
“I’m glad you guys found me because if you guys wouldn’t have, I would be out there doing dumb things,” Jordan, who has spent the last five or six years with the Taylors, said to his parents. “I’m lucky to have you guys, have a family who loves me and everything I need.”
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