“The only thing that was consistent, was change in my life.”
For most of his childhood, that was the reality for Tryton. Before entering foster care, he and his younger brother moved from place to place, sometimes staying in abandoned cars as they tried to get by.
Everything changed the day he walked into a Family Home at Boys Town North Florida.
Family-Teachers Wayne and Aiysha welcomed Tryton into Boys Town’s Family Home Program. For the first time, Tryton experienced something he had never seen before: stability.
“This was the first time I saw a married couple live together and take care of their kids,” Tryton said. “I felt like one of their kids. It seemed complete to me. I knew that was what I wanted. There was nobody I wanted to be like more than him, Mr. Wayne, who I call ‘Pops.’”
Wayne understood the weight of that responsibility.
“I understand the importance of every boy,” he said. “Everyone deserves a parent to be consistent and try to do your best to guide that child. We’re going to be the constant for them.”
And they were.
Tryton remained in the Longley home, graduated from high school and went on to college. He often says Boys Town, and his Family‑Teachers, changed the trajectory of his life.
But Tryton’s story didn’t end there.
Years later, Tryton returned to Boys Town North Florida, this time with his wife, Courtnei, to become Family‑Teachers themselves. For Tryton, it was more than a job; it was a calling.
He describes it as “an opportunity to allow God to work through me and use me for whatever He has.”
Today, Tryton lives on the very same campus where he once lived as a foster youth. His former Family‑Teachers, Wayne and Aiysha, who he calls “Pops and Mama Aiysha,” still lead a home just steps away. Now, Tryton and Courtnei are raising their two daughters while also parenting a home full of boys. Living on the same campus and offering the same love and guidance that once changed his life.
Marcus Lampkin, Executive Director of Boys Town North Florida, says Tryton’s experience gives him a rare and powerful perspective.
“He can teach them. He’s been there,” Lampkin said.
Courtnei sees it too.
“Tryton loves Boys Town,” she said. “Boys Town changed his life. He’s back here doing the work that changed his own life. He and our family now get to change the lives of other kids. It makes me happy!”
Tryton calls Boys Town ‘home,’ not just emotionally, but literally.
“Boys Town is home to me,” he said. “It’s the most ‘home’ I’ve ever known. And now it’s home to me, my wife and my daughters.”
In their first year as Family‑Teachers, the couple welcomed many children into their home, celebrated the birth of their second baby girl and continued the mission with full hearts. When asked what it’s like to now serve as a foster parent on the same campus where he once lived as a youth, Tryton said he can’t imagine doing anything else. Being a girl dad to his daughters and a foster parent to six boys in his home is, to him, the most rewarding work he could ever do.
And he’s just getting started.
