Daughters Of Zion CNPP Grantee Announces Melvin Taylor – Veterans Helping Vets As The DOZ CNPP Entrepreneur Of The Week- April 10 – April 16, 2022

Corporal Melvin Taylor 

Veterans Helping Vets

Phone # (901) 351-2788

Years In Business: 1 

Number of Employees: 3 

Elevator Pitch: “We are here for you because God told us too”

As part of our follow-up to the progress the Daughters of Zion CNPP grantee is making within Memphis, Shelby County, and beyond- we are highlighting the weekly Entrepreneur of the Week award. When asked why Corporal Melvin Taylor was selected as the entrepreneur of the week, Dr. Gerald Kiner, PhD declared, “ Corporal Taylor is a man’s man and a woman’s man. He is the kind of man we all need in our lives. He is a leader, a caring man, a gentleman, and a blessed man. I am so blessed to have him as a part of this DOZ CNPP program. Every week he makes an impact on someone’s life. He is amazing. At 75 years old, he is growing stronger and stronger each day. There is no excuse for any of us not to chase our vision because Corporal Taylor is chasing his. He is most definitely worthy of this award.”

Melvin Taylor answered several questions for the entrepreneur of the week.

Q: Tell us about yourself and the name of your business and how it came about. 

A: My name is Melvin Lewis Taylor and my vocation and my vision is helping veterans and people that are in need.

The name of my business is Veterans Helping Vets and God gave it to me five years ago when there was a time when I had nothing else to do but I was dreaming. I was in sleep mode and he showed me that people here in Memphis and all over the world need counseling. My ministry is all about people that know how to counsel but above all compassion must be their first criteria. I’ve spent a long time in Vietnam, came out blessed, and now I’m able to share my blessings as God told me it’s more cheerful to give than to receive, and that is my motto.

Q: What made you want to start Veterans Helping Veterans?

A: I saw it in a dream, a vision, that people were behind a curtained wall, and it was dark on their side, and it was sunny on my side. I heard a voice say, “Feed my people.” First I thought I may have eaten too much, when I layed down, but as time went on He constantly showed me step by step what He wanted me to do. So, God blessed me with a lot of money that I had, and he told me in a ministry, then a lady walked up to me in a bank and I didn’t know her from Ruth, or whomever, Eloise. She said, “Here, take this five, and she said, “Go home and pray over this five, and do what the Lord tells you to do.” I went home, it didn’t happen in one day, maybe a month, and I heard the voice say “Share this five.” I said, “Share this five? It ain’t but one five.” “No, do 100%”. So, I went to the bank and I got out 100 five dollar bills, which I even have in my pocket now, but I started witnessing with that $5 bill.  I shared fives to people that seemed like they were in need and hungered for the gospel of God. Every since that time, God has took a whittle man, which I’ve been whittling for at least 17 years, and I was in very, very down spirits to have a beautiful wife for 30 years and lost her, but, nevertheless, we know that our will is not God’s will, His will will be done with me or without me.

Q. What’s an encounter you’ve had with a veteran that needed your help?

A. A lady came to me recently, she is a vet, and she came to me at this meeting at Jesus People Church. She asked me, “How can I get help? I’ve been trying to get help for 10 years, I’m disabled. My knees are going out, my legs are going out. I can’t hardly walk, I can’t hardly work, but I’m a vet.” And I suggested that she go to a lawyer that does veteran cases. Unfortunately, this person was not able to help her, but now I’ve given her other lawyers to go to, and I see that God is trying her fate and He wants her to continue to trust Him. That showed me that God has ordered my footsteps to come here to Jesus People Church. I’m receiving a lot of information, I’m receiving a lot of joy and a lot of strength that this was not just a vision, but this can be a reality if I pressed myself to the higher mark, of the calling which is in Christ Jesus.

Q: How did you hear about the Daughters of Zion Saturday Master Class?

A: My two vets and I wanted to find a way to get grants, but we didn’t know how. I had been searching for 16 years for churches that would share with me grant writing. Sixteen years and no one would show me God’s grace and mercy on how to write a grant. In this year, God has set me on the path, a straight path of learning how to be a blessing to millions, not hundreds, not thousands, but millions.

In this class, I learned that you can think yourself rich but not for yourself, but for the people that Jesus wants you to be a blessing to and for. I look forward to this teaching that I’m getting from Dr. Kiner, he is a brilliant teacher. And I’m not buttering him up, he’s just a very, very astute counselor and speaker. He reminds me much of Dr. Martin Luther King, that he can energize a multitude to do God’s will and  I thank God for the one day, me and my friends came here to hear a free grant writing class for free!

Q. What would you say to a veteran who is out there homeless, with no family, no place to go, in the streets day and night. What would you say to a veteran who said, “I don’t believe anybody loves me. I don’t believe anybody wants to help me.” What would you say to that veteran?

A. I would go get them some food and water and if necessary clothing, or whatever they needed. I would ask them, “Doth thou careth about you?” Because God loves you right now, because He sent me, and one of his angels telling and explaining to you, you can do better if you only believe in Jesus, and trust Him. Jesus knows all your problems. He saw you as you were raised from a little child in the house. He knows what you went through, a war. He knows that you only have one leg, and you’re feeling disgruntled. You may be suffering from post-traumatic stress no doubt, but you wouldn’t be out here if you didn’t have your faith in God. So, today, let me pray for you and help you on your way.

And not only that, I’m gonna give you a number and a card to a shelter where you can go and get assistance. And if you don’t want to do that, then just try and do what you do better. God doesn’t want to leave you… you’re a precious soul to God. You don’t need to throw your life away in these streets with this alcohol and drugs, and whatever you’re going through. What you need to do is give your life totally to God, and He will break the yolk that you’re under, and give you joy in the morning, and joy in the day, and joy always.