You can call Guy Bryant the father of Brooklyn.
A steady stream of more than 60 older teens and young men have passed through Bryant’s home since 2007, when a 19-year-old convinced the Administration for Children’s Services worker to take him in as a foster kid.
The generosity and hospitality that Bryant has shown vulnerable teens led his colleagues at ACS to nominate him for a Daily News Hometown Heroes award as an extraordinary citizen.
Though Bryant, 64, worked as a house parent for more than a decade at ACS, overseeing city-run group homes for countless youngsters, he never thought about bringing his work home with him.
“I bonded with this kid and had a connection with him, but when he asked if I would be his foster parent I was hesitant at first,” Bryant recalled. “But I said, ‘OK, let’s give it a try.”
Bryant — who has worked for ACS since 1988 and the Department of Education before that — knew the teen, Rob Ramirez, through his child welfare work. At the time, Bryant was an ACS community coordinator working in the bed reduction unit, trying to get kids placed in homes with relatives or family friends.
At first it was just the two of them in Bryant’s home, but then Ramirez asked Bryant if his best friend could move in.
It was hard for Bryant to say no.
“I was like, ‘I don’t know, I have to see.’ And then I decided, ‘OK, I’ll take him,'” he said.
From there, Bryant’s foster hub expanded exponentially — Ramirez’s friend had a buddy, and that friend had a brother, and they both moved in, too.
“Then I got a bigger apartment,” he said.
Bryant — who does not have any biological children — began taking in boys and men ages 17 and up. He moved into two floors of a brownstone in East New York and rented out the attic apartment, which added three extra beds.
The attic abode was not for foster kids, but for young men who needed a place to stay. They would pay him $200 a month rent and serve as responsible examples for the teenagers.
The foster kids follow Bryant’s rules: no drugs, no company, no fighting.
At one point, Bryant was housing nine people in his brownstone, leading to “astronomical” food bills of more than $3,000 per month, he said.
He never gives the kids a firm move-out date.
“I didn’t give a time limit. Some of them are waiting for housing to come through. Some were saving money for their own apartment,” he explained.
The longest stay by a foster kid was seven years, Bryant said.
Even though he forges connections with the young men, there are no tears shed when they move out .
“It’s exciting when someone leaves. I’m not sad to see them go because I’m right there and chances are I’ll be in touch with them,” Bryant said. “That’s home, and you’re always welcome back if you want to come and eat or talk.”
He said about 85% of his former foster kids now live in their own apartments.
“I’m very proud of a lot of them,” he said.
Bryant’s fostering capacity is down to four youths these days, but every now and then the door will squeak open and the surrogate dad to dozens will encounter a familiar, if more mature, face.
“I very rarely take the keys back,” he said.
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Do you know a Hometown Hero? Every Monday, The Daily News will run a weekly feature in print and online profiling a Hometown Hero in several categories — first responders (police officers, firefighters, EMTs), health care workers, transit workers, educators, and extraordinary everyday citizens — nominated by our readers.
For more information on how to nominate a Daily News Hometown Hero, go to nydailynews.com/new-york/hometown-heroes.
