NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Two men have each done important work to help foster children in Tennessee. The way they've done that is very different, but the result is the same. They're changing lives.
This is for certain. You are sure to encounter a lot of lessons at the home of Joseph Morton.
"Got their chores. Wash clothes days," Morton said, looking over signs posted on the walls. "I do all I can to have everything set up for the new kid whenever he comes in. I tell the boys, 'we can't change what's happened, but we can take now today and move forward.'"
For twenty years, Morton was a juvenile officer at what was then-called Woodland Hills Youth Development Center. He learned there, the teens were coming from complicated situations. Though that chapter closed for Morton, he still believed he could help teens.
"He treated me like a man, like a young man," said Carter Gregory.
Gregory was the first foster teen to be placed in Morton's home and the first of many success stories. At the time of a 2024 interview, Gregory was a sales manager at a roofing company.
Going through the Youth Villages non-profit, Morton has now fostered close to 100 young men.
He likes to have good influences come visit those foster children. A visitor like that recently dropped by.
"Yeah, I don't know how we couldn't feel compelled to help the people who have said they're the first line of compassion to kids in foster care," said Adam DeVries, executive director of Crowded Table.
Right now, Crowded Table is working with 19 churches and crews at Belmont University as they currently help 25 foster families. Churches get meals to the foster families twice a week and grocery support twice a month.
"Crowded Table, our mission is to pair every church in Nashville with a foster family," DeVries said. "When foster parents are supported, they're 90% more likely to keep fostering."
For DeVries, there was a revelation in becoming a foster parent himself. He found people need some help.
"I'm not on the island by myself," Morton nodded. "I'm not out by myself. If someone's offering help to teach these boys, then I won't turn it down."
"I am a pastor," DeVries added. "I come to this work convicted that this is something the church is called to do. Scripture's pretty clear on what we're supposed to do about vulnerable children."
"They need direction," Morton continued. "When they leave Mr. Morton's home, I want them to be different."
There are a lot of lessons to come from the home of Joseph Morton. Sometimes a guest adds another.
"If you've ever been tempted to critique or blame the foster care system, my advice to you would be to ask what you can do," DeVries said.
"We've got to work together," Morton added.
For more on Crowded Table, visit here.
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
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