When Charles and Tina Scott decided to adopt 10 children, they didn’t ask neighbors for help.
Others did it for them.
So the Scotts — they have four children of their own in their home on West Horah Street in Salisbury — wound up with Christmas presents from strangers and friends alike.
“We really haven’t had to buy any gifts for the children,” said Tina, who teaches marine biology and sophomore English at South Rowan High School. “I don’t know what we would have done without South Rowan High School’s support.”
The mother of the 10 children — a relative of Tina Scott who lives in Washington, D.C. — is unable to care for them, she said.
Raised in a home crippled by drug and mental abuse, the siblings were divided a year ago among four foster homes. They still see each other on Wednesdays, Scott said.
Social workers took the children after the oldest son had a quarrel with his step-father and became suicidal. He is ambitious and has a lot of goals now, Scott said.
“My husband and I have decided to keep them together,” she said. “Every time people talk to me, people say, ‘Are you crazy?’ We prayed about this for a long time.”
Two of the children, ages 3 and 4, came to the Scotts during the week of Thanksgiving after spending a year in an institution in Maryland. Ranging in age from 1 to 16, the rest could arrive as early as next week.
“They literally had no family bond,” Tina Scott said.
For Christmas, South Rowan High students and teachers gave clothes, blankets, bicycles and toys. One teacher’s Sunday school class donated a washer and dryer. Math teachers gave a deep freezer with $140 worth of food in it.
First United Methodist Church of China Grove even set up an account at the local branch of F&M Bank where people can contribute money.
Scott, a Washington, D.C. native, met her husband while attending Livingstone College. They decided to stay in Salisbury.
Charles Scott is a conductor for Norfolk-Southern and assistant minister at Outreach Christian Tabernacle Church.
The Scotts have a 16-passenger van and a 5-bedroom house on West Horah Street. They have eyes on a bigger, newly built home, but banks have twice turned them down, Tina Scott said.
The family also will be searching for dressers, beds and shoes.
“I’m just hoping they’ll all be together,” she said. “We’re basically just going on faith on this, and so far God is supplying the need.”
Interested in helping? Donations can be made to the Scott Family Fund and sent to First United Methodist Church, 110 West Church Street, China Grove, NC 28023.
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