Army veteran who walked 30 miles to find a job now has a place to call home
Veteran Brian Taylor is not just home for the holidays — he’s living in a home, which was not the case just last month.
The accomplishment took grit and determination, as he walked 30 miles across southern Georgia in September. He's now employed and has a roof over his head in the city of Thomasville.
"I’m very grateful," Brian Taylor, a U.S. Army veteran, told Fox News Digital.
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"Those hopes and dreams, when you've lived without them for so long — sometimes you just don’t know what you want," he said.
But "my faith has always been there," he added. "God understands it. We talk a lot."
Marge Shaw, career guidance counselor at the Goodwill Community Center in Thomasville, was there the day Taylor arrived.
"He was so beaten down and exhausted when he first came here," Shaw told Fox News Digital.
"But we just poured lots of positivity and encouragement into him and kept connecting him with community resources. We were not going to let him give up."
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Taylor left the Army in 1983. He's faced personal challenges, he said, including losing his mother and the relationships he had with his wife and children due to choices he made involving alcohol.
Taylor said he lost his way and bounced around the country. But he always managed to find work — whether at a paint and body shop, campground or convenience store.
"I just drifted off," he said. "My life was in turmoil."
He’s never felt like he deserved to use his veteran’s benefits, he said — and he’s been homeless since 1999.
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Last September, Taylor began a journey from Ohio, where he had been living with a friend, to Valdosta, Georgia — and then traveled 30 miles on foot to Thomasville, where he landed at the Goodwill Community Center.
"We at the Career Center think of our participants as family and treat them like royalty," Shaw said.
"Brian was very willing to do his part. He was open to help and treated all who reached out to him with respect and gratitude."
After working on his resume and getting an interview, Taylor was hired at a local Food Lion grocery store. He's now been working there for several months.
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"My first impression of Brian was this guy's candid," Belinda Stoutamire, the Food Lion evening manager who hired Taylor, told Fox News Digital.
"He's not beating around the bush, he's telling you like it is. He was honest about any situation he was going through and he was honest about wanting a job."
Stoutamire said she was impressed when Taylor came to her recently with ideas about how to make a certain task more efficient.
"Brian's trying to make his job more streamlined and I'm like, OK, this is a fist-bump moment," Stoutamire said.
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"We can without a doubt count on Brian. There's no doubt about it. He fits right in with our Food Lion culture, which is, ‘Count on me.’ He just tries to help everyone out, look for more ways to do things better and just continues making everyone happy," she added.
Taylor’s confidence on the job appears to be evident.
"They're very satisfied with my work," Taylor said. "They trust me to do my job."
Until this month, Taylor was living in a tent. But that has changed with the involvement of an organization called 90Works, which provides rental assistance and other support to low-income veterans.
He now lives in a comfortable and "totally rebuilt two-bedroom house," he said.
"It’s strange and lonely, but good in a way," Taylor said. "I mean, there's a lot that's on my plate. There's a lot of people watching, and I can’t let them down or let myself down."
Besides helping with his rent, the organization helped Taylor set up his new place, including providing him with cleaning supplies, towels, dishes and even a new bicycle to ride to work.
"So maybe that help will give me the opportunity to save and get a vehicle," Taylor said. "Get my license back and just really get ahead," he added.
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Taylor said his new church family, led by Dave and Alli Allen at New Covenant in Thomasville, has been by his side every step of the way.
"They just support me the same way they've been since day one," Taylor said.
"There's no pressure, you know. They just have open arms. I'm doing some volunteer work there, cutting the bushes. I’m just trying to stay connected with them."
Taylor said he hopes to get a dog to keep him company while he continues to get his life back on track.
"I just want to maintain and try to get ahead," Taylor said.
"Maybe find a little bit of closure with personal issues," he also said.
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