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Guy Bryant has worked in Children Services for over 40 years. He currently serves as a Community Coordinator at New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services. Guy has brought over 50 kids into his home through the foster care system. From addressing food insecurity to giving kids a roadmap to independence, we hope today's episode inspires you to be a pillar in the life of your mentee/s.
Show Notes
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WELCOME
You Can Mentor is a podcast about the power of building relationships. Every episode will help you overcome common mentoring obstacles and give you the confidence you need to invest in the lives of others.
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SHOW NOTES
- Guy Bryant on Good Morning America
- New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services
- Foster Care in America (children’s rights)
- Food Insecurity (feeding america)
- Roadmap to Independence (citylivingny.org)
- Youth Transitioning from Foster Care (fas.org)
- Mentors working in the foster care system (youth collaboratory)
Creators and Guests
What is You Can Mentor: A Christian Youth Mentoring Podcast?
You Can Mentor is a network that equips and encourages mentors and mentoring leaders through resources and relationships to love God, love others, and make disciples in their own community. We want to see Christian mentors thrive.
We want to hear from you! Send any mentoring questions to hello@youcanmentor.com, and we'll answer them on our podcast. We want to help you become the best possible mentor you can be. Also, if you are a mentoring organization, church, or non-profit, connect with us to join our mentoring network or to be spotlighted on our show.
Please find out more at www.youcanmentor.com or find us on social media. You will find more resources on our website to help equip and encourage mentors. We have downloadable resources, cohort opportunities, and an opportunity to build relationships with other Christian mentoring leaders.
You can mentor is a podcast about the power of building relationships with kids from hard places in the name of Jesus. Every episode will help you overcome common mentoring obstacles and give you the confidence you need to invest in the lives of others. You can mentor.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to the you can mentor podcast. My name is Steven and I'm here with a special guest because I saw him on good morning America. And that's why I called him to get him on the podcast. His name is Guy Bryant, Guy Bryant. How are you doing today?
Speaker 3:I'm good, sir. Very good.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm so glad you're here. You're in New York City. Guy, can you paint a picture of what you're looking at right now? I think you're in your office building, aren't you?
Speaker 3:Yes. I'm in my office, and I'm looking at my calendar counting away the days before I go on vacation.
Speaker 2:Come on. Let's go. Where are you going?
Speaker 3:I'm just going to Maryland. A friend is having a big party, so I'm going to Maryland for, like, a couple of days. And we're staying in a hotel, and it's a big, big party. So Okay. I love it.
Speaker 3:Gonna be really nice.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. I hope you enjoy it. Guy, for those of you who don't know Guy or didn't see him with Michael Strahan hanging out on Good Morning America, he is a community coordinator at New York City's Administration For Children's Services, and he has an amazing story. And before we get into that, though, I want just Guy to explain to us. Guy, will you tell us who is Guy Bryant?
Speaker 2:Can you paint a picture for our listeners?
Speaker 3:Guy Bryant is a 62 year old man who has been working in the child welfare system for the past 42 years.
Speaker 2:More more than 3 decades. You got 42 years on.
Speaker 3:Yes. 42 years. And 32 of those years have been with New York City Administration For Children Services. And, I am a foster parent, a mentor, a father, a whatever you want to identify with me, as long as it's a positive situation, I'm I can be all of those different things.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. When I saw your story, I knew I had to to get you on the podcast. They they had you on to to celebrate an accomplishment, which really, I don't think most people would have this accomplishment in their bank that you fathered over 50 kids in the foster care system. I don't know if there's a list of top 10 foster dads, but I'm sure you're on it somewhere.
Speaker 3:Apparently, I am. I haven't, like, I've never looked at it that way. I actually, people ask me all the time, do you realize how special this is? And I'm like, no, I don't. It's something that has to be done and somebody has to do it.
Speaker 3:So I look at it that way, like, if not me, then who? It's not it's something that I'm proud of now because the recognition has made me, you know well, I guess it is special. But I never thought it have thought of it as being special prior to this because it was part of my everyday routine. Get up, go to work, come home, cook for the kids, talk with them, make sure they go to medical school, all of those things. Prepare them for living on their own.
Speaker 3:So I did it at work and then I did it at home. And I just never looked at it as anything, but, you know, that's what I'm here for.
Speaker 2:It's amazing. I I wanna ask a quick just random fun question. I I wonder if with all these boys coming into your home, there there is a movie or something that you guys have have done consistently. So what what's what's the movie that you you guys have watched together more than anything else?
Speaker 3:It's it's not about mentoring or anything else.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 3:It's why, for some reason now, I can't even think of the name of it. And there are 3 of them and it's a horror movie. And they're most of them are scared out of their wits when we see it. But it's about this this monster that comes around like every 30 years. And he, oh, I can't think of the date of it.
Speaker 3:And like, I I love this movie. They they just humor me and watch it when it comes on. It usually comes on around Halloween. They play all 3 of them. And they're like, you know, oh, it's time for us to watch this movie.
Speaker 3:And I make food and everything and, you know, we sit down and watch it. And I said, this is the part when they said, we know. We know. We don't. We we see this stuff.
Speaker 3:So
Speaker 2:Just rewatching horror movies, you're like, okay, I know what's coming. So Yeah. I don't know what the appeal is to horror movies. I'm I'm just not into that. I'm I'm scared out of my life.
Speaker 2:So
Speaker 3:They are too, most of them. And, like, I have one that he he'll cover his face the whole time because he's like one out of the 4 kids I have now. Because he's like, no. Because I'm gonna have nightmares. And so he he won't watch it and stuff.
Speaker 3:But it's I don't know. It's a fun time to me. I mean, those are that's one of the things we do. And fishing is the other we go fishing. We stay in the city but we go out on the boat deep sea fishing.
Speaker 3:And they yeah. They they they get sick but they love it. Yeah. They they love it. So I mean, to catch the fish and it is a a spoken rule that whatever we catch, I bring home, we cook it that same day.
Speaker 2:Oh, come on.
Speaker 3:So it doesn't get to go in yeah. It doesn't get to go in the freezer. You know, before we leave in the morning, because we leave about 4 AM, I make up a big salad and cut up some potatoes to fry and then have the fish cleaned on the boat. When I come home, wash them out, lemon juice and season them up and deep fry them and they love it.
Speaker 2:That's amazing.
Speaker 3:They love it.
Speaker 2:Being in that space for 42 years, you said, that if not me, then who is not just a, well, today, but, like, your lifetime has been given to this Definitely. This calling. And so can you can you just kind of explain to us what influenced you down that career path and calling in life to father boys from difficult circumstances?
Speaker 3:Well, what started this all is, when I was 20 years old in college, I had a friend, and she was like I said, I need a job. I need some extra money. Financial aid is just not helping. And she was like, Oh, I got a job at the Board of Education. I was like, Really?
Speaker 3:She said, And they're looking for a male. So she brought me into the program and I met her director and the principal and they had me there for one day. And there was a kid who was really difficult. He had been in the foster care system, but he was in school and he was in a special special ed program, which was for neurologically impaired and emotionally handicapped youth. And he he was very, like, aggressive and he didn't want anybody near him and he wore a hat all the time.
Speaker 3:And I said, why does he wear a hat? He said, well, his his head is burnt. Up the top of his head was burnt. So I was like, wow. I said, he's got a lot of reason to be angry.
Speaker 3:We, you know, we talked and I got to know him. And that day, the principal said, I'm gonna hide this guy because if he can reach him, imagine who else he can reach. And 42 years later, this kid is 52 now and we're still friends. And, he's he he actually does the same kind of work that I do. And he is a very functional, caring human being.
Speaker 3:And he attributes that to the relationship that me and him had in the beginning.
Speaker 2:Wow. Does he work in New York City now? Or does he work He does.
Speaker 3:He works in New York City. And he works with, severely, profoundly, developmentally disabled, adults. And he dresses them. And he, he makes them, he takes them for rides and takes them shopping and he does all kinds of things with them. And he's 52 and he's been working with them 25 years.
Speaker 3:And I don't know what well, I do know that I'm partially responsible.
Speaker 2:I'm I'm glad you know that.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I know I know that. He's told me that that, you know and he's very good at what he does. And obviously, he's been there 25 years. So I said, oh, you can't carry the torch and stuff when and push my wheelchair around when it's time.
Speaker 3:So
Speaker 2:Oh, that's amazing. Guy, from the little, I know about your life. I just feel like you have a heart to impart a generational blessing to the boys that you bring into your home. And Mhmm. And I I really do think you have a gift of family.
Speaker 2:Just a that's a blessing that's on your life to impart. I I wonder how much that experience of family changes the future of these boys' lives. Can you share more about your own upbringing? And is there anything specific that you've received from your own family that you hope to impart in the boys you're investing in?
Speaker 3:I grew up in a household where my mother and her 2 sisters bought, a house in Brooklyn. And each family lived on a floor. We had 3 floors. So I had like 7, cousins and my brother. And we were all in the same house.
Speaker 3:And so it was never a dull moment. And if you didn't like what was to eat on the 1st floor, you could go to the 2nd floor or the 3rd floor. So we were able to eat. We had many choices of what dinner was. So whenever it was a dinner that was liver, I knew I was going to one of the other floors.
Speaker 3:And it's, I instill that. Food is love to me. And, you know, to make them understand, you know, how much I care for them and love them. You know, I provide plenty of food and kids respond well to that because if you a lot of them have been in situations where they weren't able to eat. So if you're able to feed me and you feed me the things that I enjoy, you love me.
Speaker 3:And a lot of my kids feel that way, you know. And they still come. If I have any leftovers, I'll put them in the freezer because somebody will come and pick them up. And I am I instill in them that this is your family forever, not just because there's foster care involved. I'm your family forever as long as you need me to be.
Speaker 3:And they, you know, they respond well to that also. Some of my kids are in their twenties, thirties, and forties and they still come to me when there's a crisis. And I want it that way always because I have to help them and they help me. They do things to help me definitely. You know, they they they're grateful and I'm grateful that they're in my life.
Speaker 3:They definitely make my life complete. And this all comes from a family who stayed united through thick and thin and we helped everybody in the community. If somebody was struggling, we helped them. And that's just the way it is. You know, I've always been that way and I'll continue to be that way and to pass it on.
Speaker 3:My kids that have aged out and gone out on their own and live in their own apartments, they will help the kids that live with me now either to get a job or to help them get their own place or just to help them if they're having an issue that they can't or feel like they rather talk to them about it and not me. So, it's just it's something that gets passed on and you keep passing it on. And hopefully, they'll pass it on to their children and their children's children.
Speaker 2:I I love the connection between family and food. And I know I know that they're I mean, food scarcity, that is a that is a huge issue with, just kids from hard places not knowing where they're gonna get their next meal. And if you can provide an environment where they know where their next meal is coming and they know it's gonna be good and and you create an environment where they know they, I mean, they know they're gonna eat. That that makes you feel at home, like, which I I imagine being in foster care, you don't naturally feel that way. I've heard stories of, I mean, refrigerators being locked and you you're not wanting yeah.
Speaker 2:The kids that that you're taking in, well, I don't know what their history is, so I gotta be really protective and
Speaker 3:I yeah. I'm not you know, they I I recently, I had to stop, like, because they were cooking. Like, somebody would get up at 2 in the morning and start cooking. I said, look. We just we can't do that.
Speaker 3:Okay? You know, so let me give you guys some guidelines. There's no cooking after 10 o'clock at night. If you wanna get a bowl of cereal or if you wanna make a sandwich, that's fine. But they know that they can eat basically anything that's in the refrigerator, freezer, or cabinet.
Speaker 3:And if you see it in a plastic bag and it's tied up, that means it belongs to someone else in the house and don't touch it. So that's the policy for putting stuff in bags. If we put food in the refrigerator or freezer in a bag, it belongs to somebody. And that's their own personal thing. So we utilize that as well.
Speaker 3:But eat shrimp. If I'm eating peanut butter and jelly, that's what they're eating. So it's not like, you know, I don't separate that. And that's, to them, that's trust and love. They believe that I've entrusted in them my own, not just put them there because I'm collecting a check.
Speaker 2:I I love the also, just the community aspect of of what you're talking about. This is this discipleship of if I do this, they will do this. If I am generous, they will be generous. If I'm receiving them into my home and making connections for them, they will do that for the kids that come after them. And I I mean, there's fruit that comes from that generational aspect of everything that you give.
Speaker 2:They're able to give away as well. Mhmm. Can can you talk about, I guess, the transition from being in in the work, doing community advocacy to then deciding to take in your first kid? What was that experience like?
Speaker 3:The experience that happened is I was working in a closed down program at Administration For Children Services and we were, there were units that housed large numbers of kids and we were closing them down to make it more personal and kids could move into homestyle settings. Where there was like parents and other kids because and the institutional settings aren't really productive for growth. Meals are at this time and you have to go to bed at this time. There's no bending the rules. Everybody has to follow the same rules.
Speaker 3:And that's one thing I've learned is that every kid is different and there can't be one set of rules for everybody. But what happened, there was a kid who was 18 and he was pretty bright. And he, was in what was known as the Children's Center, which is a temporary institutional setting. And we were trying to find a placement for him. It was very difficult because he had some, you know, some things going on that made him, hard to place.
Speaker 3:So they had placed him in a group home for hard to place youth. Then I knew this kid really didn't belong there. We would talk, we go out to the movies, and I would do things with him. And he one day asked me would I be his father. And I said, I don't know about that because at that point, I lived alone and I had recently separated.
Speaker 3:And I was like, I don't know if I want to share my space with someone else. Although, I did have a 2 bedroom apartment. I wasn't really keen on that. So I said, let me give it some thought. Before I knew it though, I had given it thought and I started taking the classes.
Speaker 3:And not long after that, he moved in. And it was a very good experience. I mean, you know, we had a lot of fun. And then he had a friend who had a similar situation to him that was very hard to place. And he said, would you take him?
Speaker 3:And I'm like, oh, here I go. So I took his friend and then the friend had a brother who was not in forced to care, who was living at home but had difficulty at home. And then he moved in and then I had to get another apartment because there was just no room for the 3 of them in that room. And within a year's time, I had 9 kids living with me. It just progressed naturally, I guess, because I never thought anything of it.
Speaker 3:I just thought this has to be done. Let me do it. And that's what happened. And I started doing it. It was a good progression.
Speaker 3:You know, I learned a lot from it and the kids learned a lot from it. And I'm really happy that it turned out this way.
Speaker 2:Yeah. It's beautiful.
Speaker 3:There's 2 things I insist on, accountability and independence. If I can make you independent, if I can start you to work part time somewhere at 16, then, you know, that's part of my job. If I can get you used to doing for yourself and being able to be responsible for yourself. Part of my job is done. And I insist on that right away.
Speaker 3:If I see you slacking, I'm gonna tell you, look, this is not the way to becoming successful. And you have to take care of yourself soon. Foster care is not forever. And you know, mentoring can last a long time, but foster care is not forever. Where somebody's gonna send last a long time, but foster care is not forever.
Speaker 3:Where somebody's gonna send a check for you every month, then I said that check will be your own pocket. You will have to pay rent out of your own pocket every month. And I I I am still letting them from day 1 when they walk into my home.
Speaker 2:You've kind of shared about food. But how do how else do you build trust with the the kids that you're investing in?
Speaker 3:I am totally open and honest about things that I see going on. You know? And I always say to them, correct me if I'm wrong. But here's how I see, and here's what I see going on. Mhmm.
Speaker 3:And a lot of times, they would justify that by saying, but no, no, no. I'm saying, okay. Then explain to me why so that I have clarity on it. I don't dismiss what they're doing and their feelings because they're miniature adults and they have feelings and I never dismiss what they're doing. So I'm Guy, can
Speaker 2:Guy, can you share, yeah, just from your experience of of helping the boys in your home process their pain and find healing, what does that look like? And, I mean, what what advice would you have for mentors of teens that are processing pain from their past?
Speaker 3:I always recommend that they see a therapist. Because there are things that I can't be objective. Once you're in my home, and I love you, and you're there, it's hard for me to become it's it's harder for me to become objective about situations. And I will be, but it's more difficult because I know this kid and I know his pain. So I always encourage them to seek therapy.
Speaker 3:I say it's gonna benefit you in life for your relationships, and for who you are, and for the pain that you're experiencing, or that you might experience, you'll be able to handle it better if you've gone to therapy. And I tell I share with them that I've been in therapy. You know, it's important. It's important that you know yourself. Because without knowing yourself, you can't bring someone else into your life and have a successful situation.
Speaker 3:And, you know, I tell them we can talk about whatever you've done in therapy and whatever's going on if you choose to. I give them an extra listening ear. You know, I'm there to listen and to help. But I give them an extra I give them a tell them to get as many people on their side as they can in life. Because you're gonna need all of those people.
Speaker 2:That's good. That's good advice. We we have kids that move away from our our program. Either mom finds cheaper rent somewhere else in the city or or out of state. And when we have a mentor relationship, it can feel heartbreaking when when you're kinda cut off from relationship.
Speaker 2:And I know I mean, relationships always are are changing. Kids move out. They grow up. And so I'm sure you've experienced that kind of loss.
Speaker 3:Oh my god. I have the most perfect example of that.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I
Speaker 3:had a young man in my home and he came I had 66, young men in my home at that time. I had 5 and then he came as the 6th one and he was just there for like a weekend because he needed respite from the home that he was in because he had been very disruptive. But he was 11 years old and I I usually don't take 11 year olds olds because they're too young. And then it's it's more difficult to guide them towards independence because they're still a kid and they should enjoy those years. So I said, okay.
Speaker 3:I'll take him for the weekend. He came for the weekend and my kids were like, oh, can we keep him? I said, he's not a puppy. He's a kid. I said he has to go to school.
Speaker 3:He's gonna need his clothes washed. I said, you guys do all that stuff yourself. He has to have, you know, people have to cook for him. And they're like, we'll do it. We'll do it.
Speaker 3:And they did. They actually did it to the point where he was spoiled rotten. He they they bought him, the ones that were working, bought him jeans and sneakers and things that he got everything. And this kid was so spoiled. And unfortunately, I love this kid to death.
Speaker 3:I loved him so much. He was such a smart kid. So he wanted to stay with us and he did. And the agency said, all right, you you're not you know, we'll let you we'll let him stay with you, you know? So my kids were glad and everything worked out.
Speaker 3:Okay. His mom got herself together and he went home right after Christmas, 2018. So he went home in the beginning of 2019 and it was a total disaster. He started running away. He was, I left him with his keys, and he was able to come back to me whenever he wanted to.
Speaker 3:So I would wake up in the morning, and he would be in the extra bed or laying on the couch sleep. And I would then know that he was there, and it just didn't work out at all. So finally, he ran away, and he was gone for like 3 months. And at that point, he was just 14. Not even 14, he was 13.
Speaker 3:They found him and they put him back to me. But he was such a totally different person when he came back. He was disruptive and he was, you know, using marijuana and I couldn't really maintain him. And the kids would talk to him and talk to him. The older kids would talk to him, but he just couldn't get it right.
Speaker 3:He entered high school that year, but he didn't go. Last in September, he didn't go at all. And he ran away again. And I was heartburn. I literally it made me sick.
Speaker 3:I was so stressed out worrying about where he was. On the news, they had like missing children reports and everything. There were people looking. They had posters up for him. And my other kids were so they were destroyed.
Speaker 3:They went looking for him in the streets and everything. You know, they have enough loss in their life and I don't need the loss in this situation as well because they looked at him like a little brother. He was found and he's in a forced home now and he's doing a little better. But I they they would like, would you take him back? I said I would.
Speaker 3:You know, I said he could come back if he wanted to. And then he said he just needed some time. You know, he he would definitely think about coming back. But I still love this kid. I still have a good relationship as far as talking to him.
Speaker 3:And maybe one day, you know, he's actually 14 now. He'll be 15 this summer. And maybe one day, he'll be ready to come back.
Speaker 2:Thanks for sharing that story, man. You've established a relationship that I mean, you know that this kid feels loved around you, around the kids that are in your house. And and then in a in a way, there's an opportunity for once he leaves, he despises other places Yeah. Or the the other cities.
Speaker 3:Back home, but he asked to not go back home. Yeah. He didn't wanna go back home. But his mom had completed her classes and did everything that she was supposed to. And I have a similar situation now.
Speaker 3:I have a 16 year old whose mother recently found an apartment and she wants him to come home and he's not he said, I'm going to my lawyer. I'm not going home. He said, I'll go visit her on the weekends, but I'm not gonna go home. And I had to ask him myself. I said, why?
Speaker 3:You know, he said, I don't know. He said, but I feel like everything's gonna fall apart if I go home. And he's pretty bright. And he said, I just I'm not gonna keep on the same path if I go back home. And don't get me wrong, he gets in trouble, you know, quite a bit.
Speaker 3:I'm constantly saving him from getting in trouble, but he's a lot better than he was when I first got him. Mhmm. And I've I've definitely grown attached to him and he knows it. And, I told him, I said, look, let me explain to you. I said, regardless of what that's your mother.
Speaker 3:You can always have a relationship with me. You always have your keys. You always be allowed to come to my home. You'll always be welcome to go with us when we go away. I said, all of those things will stay in place, you know, but if you can be with family and you feel like you can make it work, then you should do that.
Speaker 3:But he's saying, I don't know if it's gonna work and that's why I'm not ready. He said, I'll go home, but not now. So I said, well, you'll have to talk to your lawyer about that. But I definitely feel like, I know that parents go and they take classes and they try to do the right thing. And I think that, the kids should have a say in whether they want to return or not.
Speaker 3:Especially if the reason for them being in care is because of something they did. You know? And as when you become a parent, you take on the responsibility of bringing up another human being. And you should get a chance to redeem yourself when you make a mistake. But there has to be a balance.
Speaker 3:A lot of people, they get their kids out of foster care and they don't want any contact with the foster parent or anything that the foster parent is about, which sometimes sets their kid into a spiral that they just don't understand. You know, we've become a part of that child's life at this point. And people have to understand that. You know, we play a role. And I never try to, like, I never try to dominate or to, you know, go over what a parent is saying.
Speaker 3:But I always try to contribute in a positive way and people also have to realize that once their child is back home, you can contribute without being judgmental. You know, you can also encourage that kid to make it work. The things that I instill in them such as independence and understanding them, I try to instill it early because they may return back home. And then, you know, all living with me has been wasted because I haven't instilled anything in them or given them any tools to exist.
Speaker 2:When you were sharing about your boys taking care of this 11 year old, I was just like I was thinking about our our mentoring program. We have a after school program, and I would love just to see our older boys just support and care for the younger the younger kids. And can can you share, I don't know, just how how that became the culture of your home, and what what do you think was the secret sauce to, like, seeing seeing your boys just kind of rally around and and really become a a loving community?
Speaker 3:It's the the saying, each one, teach 1. Mhmm. So the skills that I've instilled in you, I always tell them, pass that on. You may have a little brother, a little cousin, somebody on the outside, pass that on. And I encourage them too when they get older.
Speaker 3:Who would understand foster children more than you Become a foster parent. You know, give back. And I always tell them about giving back. So so you have to instill that. You have to instill that in the kid, that air of responsibility, that air of understanding, that air of compassion, for some people, it doesn't come easy because they're so wrapped up in the things that have gone wrong in their life.
Speaker 3:So you have to show them what's going right, and you have to instill in them that they can make you better. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:I I don't know what faith has looked like in in your home. And I'm sure, obviously, with work and with, being a part of the children's services, there's guidelines for foster parents and and all that stuff. But what is what does that investment look like? And what are like, have you seen any benefits of spiritual conversations with the boys you're mentoring? What does that look like for you?
Speaker 3:They're very general Catholic, Protestant, Muslim. And so they're very general. But I instill in all of them, that everything is possible and probable because there's a God. And if they feel like they're in a good place, I'll say to them, look, you're in this good place because you have faith that things would get better someday. And they are.
Speaker 3:And I'll remind them, and sometimes they take it for granted, and they don't realize it until you point it out to them. So it is important that every experience is a teaching experience. And I try to make every experience and every conversation a teaching conversation.
Speaker 2:That's good. From your decades of investment in the city, in the community, do you have any practical advice for mentors of kids from hard places? What what would you like to see mentors do and do well?
Speaker 3:Develop the long term relationship where it lasts for decades. Not because once you become a mentor or a foster parent, or a parent, parents don't say, okay. You're grown. You're not my, you know, you're not my kid anymore. You can't come to me for advice.
Speaker 3:Keep that going. Keep it going as long as you can. As long as the child wants to be involved. And if you're doing what you need to do, that child will always wanna be involved. And they will always keep you in mind as a result of the things that I've done in life, I have 9 godchildren, and I'm involved on some kind of level with so many of the kids that I've, you know, I have one kid who he was on Good Morning America.
Speaker 3:He has 3 kids in college. He he has grandchildren and he's in his forties. And I'm like, it's so amazing to me that he, you know, he's at that point. I remember his mom being sick in the hospital when he was like 13, 14. And I took him to the hospital to see how she said if something happens to me, please take my job.
Speaker 3:Fortunately, his mother is still alive and doing very well and looks great. And we're talking about 30 years ago. And she, her relationship with him is perfect right now. You know, she's a grandmother over and over and she has so much to be proud of. To know that you've had a small part in that is so rewarding.
Speaker 3:You know, you take it, you kinda, after a while, take it for granted. Like, okay. That one was successful. Let me try to find somebody else that needs help. And that's how I look at it.
Speaker 2:That's amazing. I feel like some people would say, oh, that worked out. Okay. I don't have to do that anymore.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Definitely. But but you're saying, oh, that worked out. Let me try again.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And that's it. Yeah. That's definitely my motto. I'm not gonna, like, I like I said, I think that everybody's put on earth for a purpose and they have and I I believe that my purpose is this.
Speaker 2:Guy, thank you so much for investing in our mentors and and sharing on the podcast. So thankful for your investment in New York City. I know New York City is different because of you, man. So, yeah. God bless you, brother.
Speaker 3:Thank you. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Can you tell our listeners if they wanna get in touch with you, is there a way for them to contact you?
Speaker 3:The best way to contact me is through Facebook, Guy Bryant, g u y b r y a n t. You can also contact me by email. My email is guyb1019@gmail.com. You can contact me that way as well. Since all of this Good Morning, American, I've had people contact me through Facebook with their kids with problems and I've helped at least a dozen to 20 people with their problems with kids.
Speaker 3:I had a lady call me from Missouri. I gave her such a small bit of information, but she was so, like, enthused by it. And she looked up the information and she was like, it was the perfect answer to everything that was going on. I may be able to direct you somewhere to get assistance. If you're not in the state, feel free.
Speaker 3:I never turn anybody down.
Speaker 2:I'll I'll send everyone to your Facebook page, and you'll have to give everyone advice.
Speaker 3:Thank you, Steven. It's not a problem.
Speaker 2:Alright, man. Have a great day.
Speaker 3:Alright. You as well.