Charles Taylor was born on November 14, 1973, in south Los Angeles to the mother of Augustine Hemphill and Father Charles Taylor. He was the second child of two. He also had two brothers and two sisters from his father’s side of the family. Charles Taylor was raised in a single-parent home with his mother and sister. His mother was battling a drug addiction, and it became very hard to maintain proper care or supervision for him and his sister, who was dealing with mental health.
Charles began to be passed around to different family members as he picked up bad habits from unstable environments that were gang-infested. At the age of 10, Charles Taylor moved to the west side of Los Angeles with his father (In the neighborhood called the Jungles). By this time, Charles Taylor had already developed trust issues and resentment towards family. Charles started hanging around gangs by the time he was 13 years old. His father gave him an ultimatum to abide by the rules he set or for Charles Taylor to leave his home. Even though Charles Taylor loved his father, he knew he wouldn’t change. So, he left home the next day to fully join the streets. His father or mother never came for him, so Charles continued to get deeper and darker into the gang life. By the age of 16, Charles Taylor had a daughter born into the world (Her name is Dynasty Taylor). Then, three weeks later, Charles Taylor went to jail for a gang-related crime, which he did 26 and half years for. Charles was paroled in September 2016 at the age of 42.
During Charles’s incarceration, he joined the Timelist Group in 2008, where he participated in many workshops to make major improvements in his life, which led to him becoming a better father, mentor, and productive human being.
Mr. Taylor became a facilitator for the Timelist Group program, which teaches a curriculum geared towards lifestyle changes that allow you to function, grow, understand, create, forgive, and embrace change on all levels. Since being released, Mr. Taylor has been promoted to Director of Workforce for the Timelist Group, encompassing work with reentry individuals, mental health support, staff training, and employment service. Mr. Taylor is highly motivated to be a part of solutions where he once contributed to the destruction of his community.
