Forrest Sanders

Joseph Morton has fostered close to one hundred boys. Crowded Table looks to help people like Joseph. Their mission is to pair every church in Nashville with a foster family to help with meals and groceries.

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," Joseph 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, Joseph 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 Joseph, he still believed he could help teens.

"He treated me like a man, like a young man," said Carter Gregory.

Carter was the first foster teen to be placed in Joseph's home and the first of many success stories. At the time of a 2024 interview, Carter was a sales manager at a roofing company.

Going through the Youth Villages non-profit, Joseph 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," Adam said. "When foster parents are supported, they're 90% more likely to keep fostering."

For Adam, there was a revelation in becoming a foster parent himself. He found people need some help.

"I'm not on the island by myself," Joseph 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," Adam 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," Joseph 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," Adam said.

"We've got to work together," Joseph added.

Evan Dewey's hope is to help reduce the risk of Alzheimer's in people with down syndrome. Here's his story.

"You really like the Beatles most of all, don't you?" Brian Dewey asked son Evan.

"Yeah!"

"Who's your favorite Beatle?"

"John Lennon!"

It was during another trip to Nashville from their home in Atlanta that I caught the two.

"Which of you guys has the better taste in music?" I asked.

"This guy right here!" Evan laughed.

Here's why I asked that. On those rides to Nashville, the guys are often talking music.

"Tommy James and the Shondelles!" Brian said.

"Tommy James and the Shondells! They started in the 60s," Evan nodded. "Paul Revere & the Raiders!"

"We were just talking about Peter and Gordon," Brian continued.

"It was a very popular band in the 60s," Evan said. "They were from London, England."

You should know something about these long conversations about music. This is what the two talk about as they're headed to the Vanderbilt Center for Cognitive Medicine.

"Well, it is important because it helps people with mental disabilities," Evan said.

Evan has down syndrome.

Evan's mom is an occupational therapist and found out about a clinical trial. To talk about the details of that, I checked in with Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Dr. Jo Ellen Wilson.

"Alzheimer's disease is the leading cause of death in individuals with down syndrome after age 35," she explained. "Evan is participating in the ABATE clinical trial to receive the study drug which is a vaccine against amyloid. He's participating in cognitive assessments, behavioral assessments, PET scans, MRIs of his brain. ABATE is looking to see if we can find effective preventative and therapeutic interventions to reduce someone's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease if they have down syndrome."

I didn't get the chance to ask Evan something that would be a great question for a guy who's into music. Has there been a song named Trailblazer? Big names Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert, and Lainey Wilson did one just last year. Trailblazer is also a title that fits Evan.

"He's a trailblazer," Wilson nodded. "Evan is currently the only participant at Vanderbilt. He is the first participant with down syndrome in the entire southeast to participate in an Alzheimer's disease clinical trial."

"Yes, that's cool, y'know," Evan said.

"We hope our participation in this study will help to slow the onset of Alzheimer's, not only in the down syndrome population but the population in general," Brian added.

Brian and Evan will continue their trips from Atlanta to Vanderbilt Health for the next 12 to 15 months. They'll be talking good music while hoping to do good.

"You're listening to a lot of stuff from before your time, Evan," I told him.

"Yeah, I love it!"

"It's going to take studies such as this one and participants like Evan to help us find a cure," Wilson said.

I got inducted today into Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU)’s Scott Borchetta College of Media and Entertainment Wall of Fame. Awesome to be back at MTSU. Thank you to my alma mater for picking me for this.

And I want to give a thank you to the people who were part of the journey who came out for my speech and induction. John was my roommate at MTSU. Stephan Foust was my teacher there. I worked with Dorthea at WBKO…Amber and Alicia at WSMV…and Jimmy at WTVF. I so appreciate all these people. And thank you to them for laughing at my speech…cause…listen. Any speech I give is gonna go a little off the rails.

I’m on the wall, y’all!