House offers help, hope

Tucked behind a Flower Patch shop on 700 East and 2700 South, a historic house is doing a historic work.

The John Taylor House, built by John W. Taylor (son of former LDS President John Taylor) in 1891, is a grand residence built of rock and big enough to house Taylor, his six wives and children.

Since those halcyon days, however, the house has gone through various transformations. It is now serving as a nonprofit boarding house for men including mental health patients, former prison inmates and veterans.

"We love it, we love our mission here," managing trustee Lon Scow said. "It's a way of giving back to the community."

Scow runs a successful mortgage business and other profit-driven enterprises.

Walk through the three-story (plus basement) John Taylor House with Scow and his wife, Peggy Hepsak, and you can feel their enthusiasm for what they're doing. They show you through the home's 10 bedrooms, capable of housing 25 men (19 currently live there), telling stories and pointing out the computer equipment, food, personal care supplies, stove, industrial coolers and other donated items.

"We get a lot of donations from private people and the food bank," Scow said. "Some people drop off their old computers."

Scow becomes most energetic when he relates the home's success stories. He tells of an ex-convict who came to live at the John Taylor House right out of prison. The man had very little money, but he found a job at a car wash, paid his rent (residents pay $600 a month for room and board, $425 if they do chores around the house), and within two years had saved enough to buy his own home and move out.

"He came back, gave me a big hug, and paid $900 in back rent," Scow said. "That happens once in a million times."

Current residents of the house — whose stay ranges from a few months to several years — are at different places along life's road. Some are still in bed at mid- to late-morning, struggling to find a reason to get up. Others are gone to jobs or activities. Some are doing chores like raking leaves or cleaning the kitchen.

Roy Shoemaker, whom everyone calls Dice, is a longtime resident who has successfully weaned himself from drugs and rehabilitated himself from a spell at Point of the Mountain. He has become the John Taylor House's resident handyman and caretaker, directing residents' work and nagging them to make their beds.

"If it weren't for this place I would be dead or in prison or still doing drugs," he said.