Man realized that teens in foster care struggled the most with finding a home — his one gesture helped over 50 teens
Finding a loving and supportive home might not be easy for a foster child, especially after they have turned into teenagers. A man named Guy Bryant had noticed that many parents who took in foster kids or adopted children wanted babies or toddlers, leaving most of the teens with nowhere to go. So Bryant decided to open his own home to these kids who were in need of support from a loving parent. He ended up changing the lives of over 50 teens, per Good Morning America.
Bryant decided to become a foster dad around 2007. It was because of an important thing that he had noticed in the foster home system. "Everyone wants the babies; they are cute, they are cuddly. Everybody wants the toddlers," Bryant commented. On the other hand, the teens were really hard to place in a permanent home. "They go from place to place to place and they are raised by a whole different bunch of people, with a whole bunch of different values. Kids at 17, 18 and 19, it's very difficult. People don't want the problems that come along with somebody who's that age." So by 2019, Bryant had given a home to over 50 foster teens.
There were 527,180 kids in the foster system in the US, according to USA Facts. Out of all the states, West Virginia had the highest number of kids in the system. In 2019, four teenagers were in Bryant's care, and all of them were in different situations when the man offered them a home. Gregory Bell, one of his foster kids, had moved through different foster homes before he met Bryant as a 17-year-old. Bell was happy to have his own set of house keys as a symbol of belonging and his foster dad's trust in him. "Usually, keys are not a part of the deal. So when Guy gave us keys, that's like, I am giving you my trust and this is our house." Dior Dillard, another one of Bryant's foster kids, didn't have anywhere to go before Bryant offered him a home.
"I felt like a lot of people had given up on me when I first came here. Mr. B told me that he wasn't going to give up," Dillard revealed. Shallah Dawson, Bryant's foster son, was glad to have access to food and the kitchen whenever he needed it — something that was not the case in many of his previous homes. "I came from a place where the fridge was locked. I couldn't eat when I wanted to." Romario Bassell could see Bryant's love in all that he did for them and called Bryant 'pop'. "They know I love them. I tell them all the time. It's important because some of them have never heard that," Bryant remarked.
The dad from Brooklyn hoped that anybody who was considering fostering a teenager should simply go ahead and "do it." He added, "The reason why I say that is you never know what you have to offer until that child comes into your home." Many of Bryant's former foster kids were grateful for what the man had done for them. "I have seen the worst. I have seen kids who come in and they have had no place to live. I had a good home, I lived well. My family was with me and I think everyone should have a family," Bryant expressed with tears in his eyes. The man said that he remembered the name of each and every kid he had fostered so far and was thankful that he could make an impact in their lives.
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