One-of-a-Kind Food Truck Serves Hope and a Meal to Memphis Homeless

 

The Daughters of Zion homeless food truck serves daily 
meals to the homeless and hungry in downtown Memphis.
Photo by Wiley Henry

MEMPHIS, TN – Sean Roberts lost his landscaping job more than a week ago. Now he and his friend, Tiffany Smith, are experiencing homelessness. 

“My boss moved and gave up the job; he moved on,” said Roberts, 33.

On Saturday (March 9), nearly two dozen homeless and hungry men and women — Roberts and Smith among them — were treated to a tasty meal that Daughters of Zion, a 501(c)3 organization fighting poverty and homelessness, served from a food truck.

They had a choice of roast beef, turkey, or chicken salad sandwiches, with bow tie pasta salad, homemade cake, and a bottle of water — courtesy of Recover Food, Feed Hope, an outreach ministry based at Church of the Holy Communion.

“There are a lot of people in need,” said Roberts, calling the homeless food truck a blessing.

Smith, 32, agreed.

Each day, seven days a week, the homeless congregate outside First Presbyterian Church-Memphis at the corner of Poplar Avenue and B.B. King Boulevard in anticipation of receiving a meal.

And each day, between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., the Daughters of Zion homeless food truck serves the homeless and hungry at that location and others throughout Memphis and Shelby County.

The food is prepared in a commercial kitchen at Jesus People Church-Memphis in the Hickory Hill community. The food truck, a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van, is equipped with a mobile kitchen.

Daughters of Zion leases space at the church, where Dr. Gerald Kiner is pastor. He said 80 percent of the food is cooked fresh each day by Chef Cynthia Washington and served from the food truck.

The nonprofit was birthed at the church by two mothers, Mary Butler and Marsha James, said Kiner, the executive director. “They wanted me to start an organization for women to help them learn the Bible.” 

Conceived in 2007, Daughters of Zion seeks to improve the lives of the underserved by providing various services such as business development, career planning, and youth programs. Feeding the homeless is one of its services.

Kiner knows something about being hungry. As a little boy growing up, he said, “My mother had five children, and we didn't have much at all.” His father died when he was 12 and the family struggled mightily. 

“We were on public assistance,” he explained.

On Sundays, the family attended church. After the benediction, congregants could eat for $5. “My mother couldn't afford $5 a plate,” said Kiner. “When I became a pastor, we serve the church for free every Sunday.”

Twenty-one years later, the congregants at Jesus People Church still eat free. “I never charged,” the pastor said, “because I knew what it felt like to be turned away and you're hungry.”

Devoid of food as a child would strengthen Kiner’s resolve as a pastor to feed the homeless and hungry. “The homeless who don't have money — like I didn't have money — and get a plate for free, that's a wonderful feeling,” he said.

That feeling and Kiner’s determination to feed the homeless and the hungry is bolstered by Matthew 25:35 (NKJV): “for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in.”

“We serve between 70 and 100 people a day right now, and going once a day with one truck,” said Kiner, thanking Shelby County government and several county commissioners for funding the non-profit’s first homeless food truck.

“I love the food truck,” said Keara Portlock, who lost her job at a fast-food restaurant about four months ago. “It’s a great establishment. They’re considerate to homeless people.”

Originally from Massachusetts, Portlock has lived in Memphis for a year. Without income, the 25-year-old shelters at churches. Though her predicament may be grave, homelessness hasn’t dampened her spirit.

Flashing a grateful smile, Portlock said this about the food truck: “They serve good meals every day. Nine times out of 10, it will be hot.” 

Copyright 2024 TNTRIBUNE. All rights reserved.

A ‘Simple Song of Freedom’ for the World Today

 

Some of the singers and musicians who participated in  
the “Simple Song of Freedom” project included Primo
Candelaria of The Coasters (left), Pete Molinari, Mario
Monterosso (the song’s producer), Carla Thomas, and J.W. 
Lance, also with The Coasters. Photo by Jamie Harmon

MEMPHIS, TN – Not since the 1985 release of “We Are the World,” the chart-topping single benefiting USA for Africa, has there been a constellation of superstars collaborating for a charitable cause — famine relief.

But then there was Elvis Presley’s “If I Can Dream,” which he recorded after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination. Written by Walter Earl Brown, it’s an ode to Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. 

And in Memphis, an eclectic group of singers and musicians were assembled to remake Bobby Darin’s 1969 protest song, “Simple Song of Freedom,” to call attention to yet another quandary — war and upheaval around the world.

Darin was a songwriter and actor. His million-selling single “Splish Splash” catapulted him to fame in 1958. He went on to churn out more hits and died of congestive heart failure on Dec. 20, 1973.

Part of the proceeds from “Simple Song of Freedom” will benefit the Novick Cardiac Alliance, a global health care organization in Memphis that serves children with cardiac disease in low and middle-income countries. 

The remake of “Simple Song of Freedom” was spearheaded by Mario Monterosso, an Italian-born guitarist, songwriter, and producer. In this collaborative effort, the collective voices of local, reputed musicians — dubbed the Memphis Freedom Band — emoted about peace and love. 

“The message contained in this song through resoundingly bold sounds matches perfectly with the spirit of the City of Memphis, which remains today the capitol of music and soul,” said Monterosso, a resident of Memphis since 2016.

The project began over a year ago, said Marie Pizano, president of the non-profit MVP3 Foundation and owner of MVP3 Records. “The project sat for a while until I came onboard. Within less than a month, I got everything done.”

Pizano said she assumed the mantle after meeting Monterosso some time ago after he asked if she could do something [to help move the project along]. “So, I picked up the ball and helped him get to the finished line,” she said.

The song project was produced, recorded, and filmed at Sam Phillips Recording Studio in Memphis with engineering assistance from Scott Bomar, an Emmy Award-winning film composer and Grammy-nominated music producer.

“It’s incredible what they put together,” said Pizano. “It starts off with opera and goes into country. You got R&B from Carla Thomas. You got the Stax Academy kids. You got gospel in there. It was beautifully orchestrated.”

Nearly 50 singers and musicians participated, she said.

The MVP3 Foundation and MVP3 Records released the song on Nov. 26 through Select-O-Hits, one of the largest independent record distributors in the county. Select-O-Hits is owned by Sam W. Phillips and Johnny Phillips. 

Their father, Tom Phillips, and their uncle, Sam Phillips, co-founded Select-O-Hits in 1960. In 1952, they founded Sun Records, an independent record label and the home of Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, and others.

A video of “Simple Song of Freedom” was released on Dec. 20 in honor of Bobby Darin, who died on that day 50 years ago. And a behind-the-scenes documentary is now in the editing process and expected to be released in late spring.

"This is a beautiful rendition of ‘Simple Song of Freedom,” said Amy Abrams of 7S Management, on behalf of the Bobby Darin Estate. “The world today is in a state of unrest, similar to the time this song was written….” 

Priscilla Presley chimed in as well. “If Elvis were here, he would join in this anthem of hope,” she said. “Elvis and Bobby Darin dared to dream of a better world through their music.” 

“Simple Song of Freedom” was released on all music platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Deezer, amazon music, YouTube, and Tidal.

Copyright 2024 TNTRIBUNE. All rights reserved.

‘Christmas With a Cause’ Made the Holiday Season a Little Brighter for Families

Keilah Jones, 28, took advantage of a Christmas shopping
spree that enabled her to take home a boxful of merchandise
for her children for a mere $25. Photos by Wiley Henry

Tiara Caswell (right), executive director of Legacy Impact 
Community Resource Center and daughter of Commissioner
Charlie Caswell, mingles with shoppers who came out for
“Christmas With a Cause.” 

MEMPHIS, TN – When Keilah Jones learned that families with limited resources could shop for pennies on the dollar, she took her two children to Legacy Impact Community Resource Center in the Frayser community on Dec. 16 to take part in “Christmas With a Cause.”

From noon to 4 p.m., parents and their children made their way to the resource center, where thousands of items were available for their choosing and to help make the holiday season a little brighter – particularly for the children.

Hosted by Shelby County Commissioner Charlie Caswell Jr. and radio and TV personality Dr. Telisa Franklin, Jones and other parents donated $25 at the door in exchange for merchandise valued at $100 or more.

“We are raising funds to finish the renovation of the Legacy Impact Community Resource Center,” said Tiara Caswell, the executive director. She also heads Legacy of Legends Community Development Corporation.

The 58,000 sq.ft. facility serves as a hub for resources and houses the Reverend James E. Smith Freedom Fighters Gallery, the Keiya Graves-Garrett Training Academy, the Legacy Impact Performing Arts Center, and more.

It is home to other organizations and programs as well. 

The sponsors of “Christmas With a Cause” included the S.O. What Foundation, Legacy of Legends CDC, Beyond Educating Foundation, I Am She, and Caswell Group Consulting. 

“I thought this was a very awesome event for kids to be able to get things for Christmas at a very affordable price,” said Jones, 28, an Orange Mound resident and reset teacher for Shelby County Schools.

On display were a mix of new shoes, books, jewelry, bicycles, clothes, undergarments, toys, household items, and other merchandise that parents like Jones were all too happy to receive.

The merchandise – clearance sales and out-of-season items valued altogether in the thousands – were provided by Walmart, Burlington, Target, and other stores, Caswell pointed out.

The public was asked to donate items as well.

“We're using this to be able to give our residents in Frayser the opportunity to have brand new items that are conveniently located in their neighborhood and not [sold] at a retail price,” she said. 

Caswell, 27, is the daughter of Commissioner Caswell, who represents District 6 in Shelby County. He is a pastor, founder and CEO of Legacy of Legends CDC, and a longtime community activist in Frayser. 

“We understand that Frayser is like the second poorest zip code (38127) in the city of Memphis,” the commissioner said. “And being here for so long, we know there are many struggles that families and children deal with daily.”

He said the idea is to help families and to give them hope at Christmas time.

“Economically, we know that many people in this community suffer from poverty,” said Commissioner Caswell. “This is a blessing to the community…to be able to give them the capacity to get more for less.” 

Jones took home a boxful of gifts for her daughter, Cailey Owens, 9, and her 5-year-old son, Cortez Taylor. “It helps me out a lot to get a lot of things at an affordable price,” she said.

Caswell reflected on his youth when he and his 16 brothers and sisters went lacking many times at Christmas. 

“We were such a big family,” he said. “So, I know that feeling on Christmas not to have much.”

Copyright 2023 TNTRIBUNE. All rights reserved. 

LINCS Helped Meishal Henry to Overcome Her Addiction

 

Wanda Taylor-Wilson (left), founder and CEO of Ladies 
in Need Can Survive, Inc., helped to transition Meishal
Berniece Henry back into society after her struggle with
alcohol and drugs. Photo composite by Wiley Henry

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the final installment of a two-part series about a woman who was able to harness her addiction and begin life anew.

MEMPHIS, TN – In all her 62 years, Meishal Berniece Henry had never owned anything with her name on it, such as a driver’s license, automobile, insurance, and a home. The one she once lived in bore her ex-husband’s name.

That’s because Henry was battling alcohol and drug addiction for 35 years and succumbed to the powerful lure. She couldn’t shake it, nor could she eradicate it. Not on her own.

Then she met Wanda Taylor-Wilson, founder and CEO of Ladies in Need Can Survive, Inc., a nonprofit 501(c)(3) transitional home in the Frayser community for women grappling with substance abuse, homelessness, and domestic violence.

Henry met the criteria for admission to LINCS and spent 18 months of intense therapy, including a four-phase approach to reshape her life. Now she has a driver’s license, automobile, insurance, and her own home.

“I just feel so blessed and grateful to God that He loved me enough to give me time to see the person that He truly wanted me to be,” Henry resounded. 

Alcohol and drugs had robbed her of happiness, including her children, education, friends, and her self-worth. She had sunk to the depths of despair and found it difficult to free herself from the clutches of alcohol and drugs.

“I wasn't mentally stable,” Henry admitted. “I realized that I blamed myself and thought I was a bad person for a long time. But I realized that I was sicker than I ever could have dreamed I was.”

After coming onboard LINCS, Henry needed not worry. Taylor-Wilson is used to women whose travails are overwhelming and difficult to overcome without intervention. What she had done for others at LINCS, she would do for Henry as well.

But before Henry was admitted into the program, “she said to me, ‘Ms. Wanda, if you allow me in your program, I won't give you any problems.’ Then she said, ‘Ms. Wanda, is there any hope for me?’”

Taylor-Wilson responded with forthrightness. The women in her charge had been reduced to hopelessness prior to coming to LINCS, but they were hopeful that their lives would be transformed afterward, she said.

“She wasn’t in a good place at 61 [when she came to LINCS],” said Taylor-Wilson, speaking of Henry, one of the oldest residents to be admitted into the LINCS program. “She said, ‘What can I really accomplish in life at 61 years old?’”

Taylor-Wilson began with an Individual Service Plan for Henry. “This gives me the opportunity to guide women in the right direction,” she said, “and provide them with the skill set to obtain, sustain, and maintain them after they complete the program.”

After an ISP is completed, she said, the process of transitioning troubled women back into society begins. Henry was now set to begin the arduous journey to sobriety and freedom from drugs. But transitioning her back into society would take 18 months.

“Our program is only 12 months,” Taylor-Wilson pointed out. “But depending on the individual need, we can make some adjustments and extend the program for them.” 

She said Henry needed more time to begin the process of saving money, improving her credit score, purchasing a home, transportation, and other necessities before transitioning to her own place.

The four phases that Henry had to complete included a wide range of classes and therapy once a week, in addition to shifting her thinking of woeful thoughts and her relationship with God. 

“We provide them with case management, domestic violence education,” said Taylor-Wilson, “and classes like anger management, life skills, parenting, job readiness, financial literacy, and education assistance.”

And then there is the alcohol and drug intense outpatient program. “This helps them to understand the addiction,” Taylor-Wilson explained, “and how to live life without the addiction.”

Henry’s transition back into society is now complete. “I feel amazing! I am happy!” she exulted.

“I got her to the finish line,” said Taylor-Wilson, adding, “I’m the proudest CEO on this side of heaven, knowing that I was able to contribute something to help another woman turn her life completely around.”

For more information about Ladies in Need Can Survive, Inc., or to make a monetary donation, visit the website at www.ladiescan.org. Or contact Wanda Taylor-Wilson at 901-351-9864 or by email at ladiescan@yahoo.com.

Copyright 2023 TNTRIBUNE. All rights reserved.

Meishal Berniece Henry: The Road to Recovery

Meishal Berniece Henry has struggled with alcoholism  
for decades. Now her best life is coming into view.
Photo by Wiley Henry

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first installment of a two-part series about a woman who turned her life around after a tumultuous battle with alcohol and drug addiction.

MEMPHIS, TN – Meishal Berniece Henry is deliriously happy. She earned a college degree in phlebotomy, makes a decent wage on her “dream job,” and purchased a new home in the Alcy Ball community.

“I’m doing awesome,” she said. 

But that wasn’t always the case. In fact, Henry’s journey to happiness didn’t come so easily. It was hampered by destructive behavior – a kind of self-inflicted wound that festered over time.

“I didn’t know that I was sick,” Henry confessed. She was an alcoholic stuck in a quagmire that kept her in a drunken stupor for 35 years. 

“I started drinking and experimenting in high school with my friends,” she explained. “But I think things went wrong when I met my husband and I got pregnant with my first child.”

Henry was 19; he was 27.

“He kept some things from me, and it kind of shook me up,” said Henry, now 62. “By the time I found out, I was already with child. Things went mentally downhill for me after that.”

Henry found it difficult to cope, which caused her to spiral down into an abyss of emotional and mental distress. She also suffered from severe postpartum depression. 

“But I wasn't drinking when I had my children,” the mother of five conceded: Natasha, now 42; Ashley, 38; Erica, 36; Amanda, 33; and Christopher, 30. 

Then Henry’s brother died. He was her rock; she could lean on him for support. At that time, “It was just me, my mother, and my brother,” she said.

Henry’s father died, too, in the early 90s; she was in her early 30s. On top of that, “Me and my mom were sort of estranged,” she said unabashedly. “Everything wasn't her fault, though.”

Even so, Henry kept drinking in excess while trying to run a household. Her marriage was on the brink as well. “I was trying to be an adult with a child's mind,” she recounted, “and it was just hard.”

Thinking she was doing the right thing, Henry relinquished custody of her children to the state. But her son was separated from his sisters. 

“I didn't understand the consequences,” she said in retrospect. “Since he was so young, he ended up getting adopted.”

After the children were gone, Henry took to the streets, drank incessantly without fail, got hooked on drugs, and teetered in and out of relationships.

She also worked a job off and on to support her drinking binges and drug addiction. “I was pretty much a wild child,” she admitted, and struggled to keep a roof over her head.

“I tried to get back with my husband a couple of times. It didn't work,” she said. “And I bounced around with whoever I could live with.”

Henry was at a crossroad. She could succumb to her addiction or she could seek help.

She chose the latter and got herself admitted to Serenity Recovery Centers, a treatment facility in Memphis for alcohol and drug addiction. A sponsor got her a job. After six months of sobriety, she relapsed.

“I lost my job in 2013,” she said. “I couldn't hold the job any longer.”

Henry was broken, hopeless, at the edge of despair. Hitting rock bottom was closer than ever. After her brother died in 2014, suicidal thoughts emerged. In 2019, she had a heart attack.

“I couldn’t stop drinking; I didn’t want to stop drinking,” she said.

Henry had been staying with a man that kept her inebriated. She couldn’t break the lure of alcohol, the urge to drink. She needed to dry out. So, in 2021, she sought help at Alliance Mental Health Service.

“They put me on convulsive medication,” she said, “because I drank so much that I was in danger of going into convulsions.”

Henry decided to stop drinking. She could almost hear the cries of her children and her children’s children. She wanted to be a good example for them.

“My grandchildren and my children were a big inspiration to me – especially my grandkids – to stop drinking,” she said.

Henry wound up back at Serenity. From there, it was Grace House of Memphis, a home for alcoholic women. At Grace, her therapist recommended that she contact Wanda Taylor-Wilson, founder and CEO of Ladies in Need Can Survive, Inc., a transitional home for women.

“So, I asked Mrs. Wanda if she would interview me to see if I was a good fit for her program.”

That was 18 months ago. Henry is a different woman now. 

Copyright 2023 TNTRIBUNE. All rights reserved.

The Arts Could Help Adults With Disabilities Lead Independent Lives

Brian Armour Jr. poses for a snapshot with Cheryl Sutton
(left), Kathleen Henderson of Studio Route 29, and his
aunt Beverly Towns Williams. Photos by Wiley Henry

Jenni Clark, the founder and CEO of StarThrower  

Group, says Armour is ‘creative, clever and kind.’

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the final installment of a two-part series about adults with special needs.

 

MEMPHIS, TN – “Are you proud of me?” Brian Armour Jr. asked his aunt after his performance at Studio Route 29 on Oct. 28 and after leaving the opening of his art exhibit at ArtYard, both in Frenchtown, N.J.

“Yes, I’m proud of you, B.J.,” Beverly Towns Williams assured her nephew on the way back to the house.

He’d asked Lionel Scriven, Williams’s partner, the same question before the “big day” had unfolded. “Are you proud of me, Uncle?”

Scriven answered yes.

Though Armour was the center of attention that day, he still wanted to know if he’d done a good job. 

Children and adults like Armour, who grapple with intellectual and developmental disabilities, may be impaired in one or several areas: physical, learning, language, or behavior.

Some of them may be more impaired than others.

Armour, however, is imaginative and creative. But he needed a structured program, said Williams, who was able to get him in the state’s pre-vocational program where he had trial work experiences.

“He worked at a food pantry,” she said. “He worked at a local department store. And he worked in an office setting just to see and measure what pre-vocational skills that he had.”

He needed a little more, Williams was told. “In these pre-vocational settings, it was only two to three times a week. Now he’s in a program with a combined internship with Studio Route 29.” 

The program spans the entire week, she said.

Developmental disabilities occur among all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Recent estimates show that about one in six (or about 17 percent) of children aged 3 - 17 in the U.S. have one or more developmental disabilities or other developmental delays.

The list varies: ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, hearing loss, intellectual disability, learning disability, vision impairment, and other developmental delays.

Williams and Scrivens would like to see Armour achieve independence some day and function within the scope of normalcy – if possible. That is their goal. But what is normal?  

Jenni Clark has the same goal for her three children – a boy and two girls. Each one is autistic, she said, and added: “It’s just that they’re high functioning.” 

Concerning her son, she asked, “Who’s going to take care of him? I want to see him set up and living in his house and he’s doing okay.”

Her aunt, whom she cares for, has special needs as well.

Clark is the founder and CEO of StarThrower Group, a non-profit that provides services to over 40 families in Hunterdon, Somerset, Warren, and Mercer counties in New Jersey.

Armour, a former Memphian, joined the group about a year ago. “He’s been so amazing,” said Clark, “because he’s so creative, and clever, and kind, and he really cares about everybody that he’s around.” 

A former schoolteacher, Clark launched the non-profit in 2018 after cashing out her Girl Scouts of Rolling Hills Council pension. She was the director of Volunteers and Training.

“We have people of all different areas of the autism spectrum,” she said about StarThrower. “We have people with Down syndrome, people with fragile X. There’s a lot of mental health concerns as well.”

Kathleen Henderson worked at Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland, Calif., for over 10 years before opening Studio Route 29 a year ago in Frenchtown, N.J. Both are progressive art studios and serve artists with developmental disabilities.

“Since I got here, I have found out that there’s an incredible amount of activism around youth with disabilities,” said Henderson, the founder and executive director of Studio Route 29. 

She’s also an artist from the Bay Area in California.

When Stacy Tuzik, the executive director of StarThrower Group, brought Armour to Studio Route 29, Henderson welcomed him to the program.

“B.J. comes to the studio every morning with a dream that he’s had,” she said, “and he starts right out with his dream. He tells us about his dream and he works on his dream.”

Armour said his ideas come from his mind, his brain. “Nobody else but me. It’s all me.”

He’s proud of himself now.

Copyright 2023 TNTRIBUNE. All rights reserved.

From Memphis to N.J., Brian Armour Jr. Has ‘Blasted Off’

Brian Armour Jr. performs to music that he wrote the lyrics
to at Studio Route 29 in Frenchtown, N.J. Photos by Wiley Henry 

Armour explains his artwork to a couple that admires one of 
his pieces on exhibit at the ArtYard.

MEMPHIS, TN – Former Memphian Brian Armour Jr. danced for more than 20 minutes at Studio Route 29 in Frenchtown, N.J. He whirled in a black cape, and his moves – smooth, fluid, robotic, theatrical, mimetic – drew applauses.

The music was refreshing and original, courtesy of Hop Peternell, an artist and the studio’s co-director. Armour lip-synched the lyrics to three pre-recorded songs that he wrote with audio assistance from Peternell.

Studio Route 29, a 501c3 non-profit organization, is a progressive art studio for artists with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Kathleen Henderson is the executive director and an artist herself. 

“Being in the studio with other artists, making surprising things, is just a joy every day,” Henderson said. “You never know what’s going to happen.”

Armour’s performance, however, was the prelude to an art exhibit that followed.

Known as B.J., Armour led his admirers down a short, tree-lined path to the ArtYard, where he and Ricky Bearghost, a textile artist from Portland, OR., have works on exhibit until Jan. 21, 2024.

The ArtYard is an incubator for creative expression and a catalyst for collaborations that reveal the transformational power of art. Jill Kearney is the founder and executive director.

The two-man exhibit, “You Come to Life,” opened Oct. 28. Bearghost, however, wasn’t available for the opening, but Armour carried on nonetheless, mixing and mingling. 

When observers asked Armour to explain his artwork, he processed the request and explained the curlicues, organic forms, splashes of color, and the subtle nuances in his artwork.

“I like the artwork,” said Armour, speaking candidly about his simplistic drawings and paintings from dreams. “Everything is precise; everything is locked in. It’s not out of order. Everything is solid.” 

Armour said he learned from the best. He credits his late mother and craft artist Deborah Towns Armour with passing on her artistic genes to him. He even assisted her in the studio and at art fairs. 

“When my mom was alive, she couldn’t finish the art thing and the singing thing,” said Armour, honoring her memories in his own way. “I don’t know if it’s my soul that connects to her or not.”

It’s conceivable. However, they were inseparable – even when the vicissitudes of Armour’s life tried to rock his world and thwart his burgeoning talent for making art and music. 

“Well, son, I’ll tell you: Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair,” the late Harlem Renaissance poet and playwright Langston Hughes began his popular poem “Mother to Son.” 

For Armour and his mother, it wasn’t a crystal stair either. But they sufficed, to say the least – for she’d prepared him for a life without her.

Memphis was home to Armour since he was around six years old. Born in Germany, the doctors were unsure if he’d survive. That was 39 years ago. The malady he suffered at birth – including being born a preemie – was daunting and life-altering. 

After his mother’s death last year, in January, Armour’s maternal aunt, Beverly Towns Williams, and her partner, Lionel Scriven, stepped in to fill the void. So, he went to live with them in Lambertville, N.J.

“I fell in love with him,” said Scriven, an architect. 

Meanwhile, Armour is undergoing a rebirth, and Williams is amazed. But she was unaware that her nephew was drawn to music, moved by the dance, and immersed in drawing and painting.

Once Armour was settled in the home, Williams competed for services that the state of New Jersey offers for adults with special needs. “There are limited amounts of resources and a limited number of programs,” she discovered.

Williams wanted a comprehensive program that would teach her nephew independent life skills and skills to enhance his potentials. 

“I was looking for a program that would be compatible with the things that he says he wants to do in life,” said Williams, an attorney. 

She found it through the state’s Department of Human Services Division of Developmental Disabilities. It’s called the StarThrower Group, a nonprofit organization that renders services to adults like Armour with special needs. 

“Because he expressed an interest in the arts, he was able to get an internship with Studio Route 29,” Williams said. “From there, he has just blasted off.” 

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first installment of a two-part series about adults with special needs. 

Copyright 2023 TNTRIBUNE. All rights reserved.