Now she and others from around the area for the past year have assembled under the group Operation Speak Out Against Domestic Violence and the East Coast Dragons Motorcycle Club to give back.

“It's a number of us who have lived different lifestyles or have been put into life-changing situations,” Taylor said last week as the group visited the Union Mission in Roanoke Rapids to deliver care packages.

Taylor was the victim of an arson, which has yet to be solved, and found a community in Northampton County came to rally behind her.

(Operation Speak Out will have its first charity ride October 25 through Halifax and Northampton counties. Registration begins at 1 p.m. at Ralph's Barbecue and the ride begins at 2:30 p.m. For more information call 252-529-1399)

Union Mission resident Alphonso Moore was appreciative of his care package. “I think it's great. I think it's something which is needed more.”

The Union Mission, Moore said, “Is giving me a chance to help serve and to live a more Christian life. I'm getting a lot of valuable lessons.”

He said he is learning to be a better person. “I want to be a person who will help others.”

Johnnie Canty was also thankful for the care packages Taylor and other members of Operation Speak Out delivered. “I think it's a great thing. It's giving me a chance to get back on my feet. I've been here over a year. I've become more patient, more willing to help folks.”

Allen Jenkins, a manager at the mission, said he was hanging out with the wrong crowd in Rocky Mount. “I had no job, no license.”

At the Union Mission, he said, “I felt like I had a chance. I heard it was a Christian place.”

Before, Jenkins thought of himself as a follower. “This has made me a person who doesn't want to be a follower, but a leader. It's given me counseling experience.”

Jenkins said his message to those going down the same path as he was is simple. “I tell them to put God first. Have faith.”