 Jefferson
Awards: Two young men give back to group that saved them
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
By Monica Haynes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Dominick Jones-Moriarty and Warren Butler are the epitome of the saying
"tough times don't last, but tough people do."
I could not be more proud of these two. But I also consider it a challenge
to AYD, and to all of you who support us, to increase this award - that
is, to help Dom and Warren expand their work among teenage boys.
This school year, Dom and Warren have given more than 100 volunteer hours
helping our boys with their homework, coaching their basketball team,
and leading their Bible studies - all while holding down full-time jobs
with the Pittsburgh Public Schools. These activities demand resources,
though, such as classroom materials, sports equipment and transportation.
There have been several times, I hate to admit, when we've had to decline
Dom and Warren's ideas simply because we didn't have the money to make
them happen.
These two young men could have easily used their personal struggles as
an excuse to jump into an abyss already filled with others who let hard
times get the best of them.
However, as youngsters, Mr. Jones-Moriarty and Mr. Butler were steered
toward Allegheny Youth Development, a Christian-based organization that
helps at-risk North Side teenage boys. As they've gotten older, they've
volunteered countless hours to the program that helped turn them from
two struggling boys into responsible young men.
Mr. Jones-Moriarty and Mr. Butler are two of seven recipients of the
prestigious 2006 Jefferson Awards for Public Service. They will be honored
at an awards dinner Jan. 25 at the Carnegie Music Hall, where Duquesne
Light will present them with $1,000 to give to Allegheny Youth Development.
Over the past four years, the two young men have amassed 663 volunteer
hours, developing and running AYD's basketball, Boy Scout, and fitness
and weight-training programs. Last year, both averaged 17 hours per week
in addition to holding down full-time jobs.
Mr. Butler, who has a 3-year-old daughter, works full time as a teacher's
aide for Pittsburgh Public Schools. Mr. Jones-Moriarty, who also held that
position with the school district, left to take a job with benefits at OK
Groceries in the West End.
The two 22-year-olds have become surrogate fathers, brothers and uncles
to the many boys they work with at AYD, providing a positive influence
to counter the many negative ones the boys encounter.
Both are taking a break from college right now but have plans to finish
their post-secondary education.
Brian Foltz, AYD's executive director, nominated the duo, nicknamed Woo
and Dom.
"We're trying to teach boys how to become men, and these guys are
classic examples of what a real man does," Mr. Foltz said.
Both have benefited from the program, he said, and now are giving back
to the organization and their community.
"Dom and Woo are inspiring kids on the North Side who are already
saying, 'I'd like to do what these guys are doing,'" Mr. Foltz said.
Despite the accolades, both are humble about the work they're doing.
"A lot of the things they go through, I've been through," said
Mr. Jones-Moriarty about the youngsters. "I tell them it's a blessing
to give back to them."
Neither young man has had an easy road. Bad home situations resulted
in both being taken in by others. Mr. Jones-Moriarty ended up in foster
care at age 5 because of his mother's drug problem.
"I was bouncing from foster home to foster home," he said.
"I maybe went to about four or five different homes."
Bouncing around with him was his older brother. When he was 8, Mr. Jones-Moriarty
ended up with the couple who would adopt him, Rosemary and John Moriarty.
His brother was sent to another home.
However, he said, he keeps in touch with all his family members, including
his mother, and his siblings, the youngest of whom attends AYD.
Rosemary Moriarty is the principal of Miller African-Centered Academy
in the Hill District. John Moriarty also works for the Pittsburgh school
district.
"It was kind of rough the first years," Mr. Jones-Moriarty
said.
It took a while for him to get used to the structure and for him to trust
that the Moriartys loved him and planned to keep him. They adopted him
when he was in eighth grade.
"That's kind of when I started trusting them, because they couldn't
actually give me up then," Mr. Jones-Moriarty said.
When he was 11, he got involved in AYD, which offered so many programs
it kept him occupied every day after school.
It was while participating in AYD that Mr. Jones-Moriarty met Mr. Butler.
It was on a soccer field.
"He beat me by a goal with three seconds left on the clock,"
Mr. Jones-Moriarty said. "We've been close ever since then."
Mr. Butler, who came from a troubled home in Northview Heights, ended
up living with Mr. Foltz when he got older.
"Trying to be a positive guy is hard when it's all negative around
you," Mr. Butler said, adding that he'd lost a lot of friends to
drugs, gangs and jail.
He considers himself one of the lucky ones in his peer group because
he had both parents growing up. He said friends used to chide him about
having it easier than they did because he had a father.
"We're still growing up in the same neighborhood, so everything
wasn't peaches and cream," he said.
His mother told him about AYD, which he credits for teaching him how
to deal with life's tough times.
"Life throws things at you; they're going to hit you and they're
going to hurt, but you got to keep going," he said. He also found
a role model in Roger Jones, who worked at AYD and was his teacher at
Northside Urban Pathways Charter School.
"He is a very strong black man. He kept himself very clean. He explained
to me everything ain't peaches and cream, but you have to take the punches
as they come."
One of the punches thrown at him was a mother with a drug problem, which
resulted in his leaving home at age 20.
"I knew I couldn't live with my mom anymore," he explained.
For about a week, friends sneaked him into their homes.
After he explained the situation to Mr. Foltz, the AYD head offered to
take him in.
Mr. Foltz, who was already caring for his 8-year-old godson, said it
was a mutually beneficial arrangement.
"I was happy to have somebody I knew and trusted to stay at the
house," he said. "Here is a guy who is very, very good at relating
to kids."
Mr. Butler cared for the 8-year-old when Mr. Foltz was at work.
"I don't regret that move," said Mr. Butler, who has returned
to living with his family in Northview Heights. "I learned a lot."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Monica
Haynes can be reached at mhaynes@post-gazette.com
or 412-263-1660.
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