 |
||||||||||
Bill Toliver
Bill was born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota and was one of five children that were abandoned and left to the Ramsey County Welfare Office. Bill and his siblings were shuffled about to different foster homes, sometimes residing in the same home for a time until something happened that caused them to be moved again (five times growing up). He was a poor student, always in trouble and getting poor grades. He followed two of his brothers to California and there became addicted to methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. He was homeless and became suicidal and paranoid. A doctor told him if he didn't stop using he had about three weeks to live. His brother took him to Delancey Street where he stayed for nine years, rebuilding his life and rising to the position of First Vice President and member of the Board of Directors. He did not have a drink or drug in over 35 years. After graduation he spent 15 years as a medical examiner for the City of San Francisco. He lived with his wife Genevieve (also a Delancey graduate) for over 30 years (she worked at Washington Mutual where she was Chief Marketing Officer) and they have a beautiful daughter, Dominique, who attended California State University at Chico majoring in Psychology. They have a beautiful home in the Oakland, CA hills and a retirement home in Northern California near Chico. Delancey Street not only saved his life but his two brothers came in after him, and Delancey Street saved their lives as well. Bill passed away in 2011.
|
||||||||||
