Today we’d like to introduce you to Dwayne Walton.
Hi Dwayne, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am the son of a 15 year old mother and an athlete with aspirations of playing national and professional soccer. I was born in Guyana South America and my mother’s pregnancy was unintended, unexpected and met with much derision and pressure to have an abortion. This pressure came from her parents and my father parents. This led to incredible trauma and suffering. My mother refused to abort me and have me the opportunity to live in a world that would look at the occasion of my birth, the origin of my nationality, and the color of my skin and infer my worth or lack there of.
My family immigrated between 1982-86. My mother, myself, and my little sister, were the last to come. We lived with my grandparents, my mother’s 4 siblings, and a cousin. All of us in a basement apartment in Brooklyn NY.
My mother suffered much and eventually ended up homeless. Her suffering even took her to place where she contemplated and was taking my sister and I to the subway to commit suicide with us. She heard God’s voice and he told her, “do not do what you are planing to do, you don’t know what I have in store for your children.
After my mother became homeless she got back on her feet and came back after a little while to take me, and by this time, my two sisters. She left without me, and I struggled with a sense of rejection, thinking that she didn’t want me. It was until my grandfather passed that I was told that he told her not to take me because he didn’t think she would be able to raise the three of us. It was the right decision and probably the reason I’m alive today.
At this time we lived in a 4 story building in NYC. Our apartment was on the third floor. It was my grandparents, my mother’s two younger brothers, her youngest sister, and me. In 1991 one of my uncles got into an altercation in the apartment above us, was stabbed in his throat, and ran down the stairs, banged on our door and when my grandmother open he fell in her arms and bled to death. I witnessed this and it traumatized me beyond what words could express.
Fifteen months later, my other uncle was shot in his back on Flatbush ave in Brooklyn. That day he spent the day with me and made me feel the best I ever felt. I didn’t get much attention and I finally had someone take notice of me. His death was deeply painful for my entire family.
Now it was just me, my grandparents, and my mother’s youngest sister, and a whole lot of pain and trauma.
My grandmother had enough of Brooklyn and we moved to Queens to live with her oldest daughter and her family. I attended Andrew Jackson High School, the same HS 50 Cent the rapper attended around the same time.
When I was 15 my mother came to visit, I didn’t see her much and she brought with her bad news. She told me that my father was murdered. My response was “good for him”, I had become dark and angry. My life was filled with death and disappointment. I refused to go to his funeral.
I could only remember meeting him twice, both time in Brooklyn. He had accomplished his dream of playing professional soccer and representing Guyana on the national team. It didn’t pay much so he came to America and became a notorious drug dealer and flooded a community in Virginia with drugs. Eventually it caught up to him and he was shot in his head. I never got the chance to know him or prove to him that my life had worth.
This led to a very dark place. I would think about my death and I was convinced that I would be dead by the age of 22. I don’t plan for a future nor did I have the ability to see past 22.
This all changed in my sophomore year in HS when a group from Campus Crusade For Christ came to my inner city school and challenged me and my friends to a game of basketball. After we played the game and wiped the floor with them one of the men, named Kevin Young told me that Jesus loved me. If he said anything else, I don’t remember. It surprised me, because Jesus wasn’t allowed in the schools, let alone on my basketball court.
His words impacted me and he took me to meet Willie Branch who organized the event. Willie took me under his wings and shared Jesus with me, led me to Christ and mentored me to this day.
Under Willie’s guidance I started attend Saint Matthew’s AME Church on Hollis ave, in the Jamaica section of Queens. The pastor and members of this church loved me and mortified me.
During my senior year Rev. Branch made me take my SATs. I wasn’t planning on taking it because I wasn’t planning on college or a future. I took it and got the highest score in the school that year. It was my ticket out the hood. I told Willie I wanted to go to a college where I could learn to change people’s lives like he did. He took me to Philadelphia College of the Bible, known today as Cairn University.
After I graduated I was introduced to Larry Constable who was a founding board member of THE POINT a community center focused on reaching young people with the hope of the gospel. What Larry and other started was exactly what I wanted to do with my life. In June of 2025 I became the Executive Director and with my wife Amy Walton and countless staff, volunteers, board members, and generous donors we have been able to build a 33,000 sqft community center on 6 acres spread across two buildings.
Every year thousands of distinct youth come for sports, food, e-sports, academic development, vocational trades training, music programs, recording studio, and more. Within this framework we bring members form churches to serve these youth and give them opportunities. Every day we share hope from the Bible, the very thing I was given. The kids learn that God loves them, created them with purpose, and through Jesus has provided the door to forgiveness and a relationship with him.
We address food insecurity, mental health struggles, homelessness, job support, and other critical supports. We also provide scholarships for students to go to trade school or traditional college. Our moto is simple; Every Child Deserves Hope.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been smooth. Dealing with the realities of my entrance into this world, the fact that I was supposed to be aborted and the trauma my mother experience because she chose to bring me into this world, was a huge burden to carry.
Now serving young people who have many of the same obstacles and trying to bring people together to serve them and help fund our programs has been a huge challenge but God has provided and we continue to grow.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
THE POINT is a faith based community center that brings together the church community to serve the needs of the youth. Our community center serves thousands of youth annually and our staff are present on school campuses to support the academic and behavior goals of the school districts.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
Favorite book is the Bible then anything by CS Lewis and NT Wright.
Favorite app is YouTube for Christian content, apologetics, debates, and entertainment.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.Parkesburgpoint.com
