Featured Family – Sharla & Dallas Taylor

Sharla and Dallas Taylor are probably the most happy and positive people you will ever meet – every time they were seen around and about at Halo House, they both had the biggest smiles on their faces! Dallas, a FedEx driver from Mobile, Alabama for over 26 years and Sharla a real estate agent are so bubbly that it is not surprising they chose the careers that they did. Even when they received a cancer diagnosis, the Taylors continued to stay upbeat.

In March 2019, Dallas started having chest pains while at work which he thought were just pulled muscles. When the pain wouldn’t stop, he went to the doctor for CT scans. By the end of April, an oncologist in Mobile confirmed that Dallas had myeloma. The oncologist recommended that Dallas and Sharla go to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to receive the best possible treatment and a stem cell transplant. After several rounds of chemo and testing and numerous trips back and forth from Alabama, Dallas received his stem cell transplant in November 2019.

Sharla and Dallas moved to Houston for treatment and initially lived either in the hospital or a hotel. While this time in Houston wasn’t like being home in Alabama, they were welcomed with open arms and love during their stay and the connections with people they met along their journey helped them pull through. The Taylor’s befriended anyone and everyone that they crossed paths with whether it was in restaurants, the hospital, or even the local Kroger store! Having to live out of a hotel was the only thing that held them back from truly feeling at home but after weeks in the hospital and hotels, Sharla received a call from Halo House that an apartment was available for them.

Sharla says that Halo House didn’t feel like an apartment to them, rather it felt like a home away from home. After long days at the hospital they would come home and put up their heels, cook, and enjoy sunrises and sunsets on their porch. Sharla and Dallas believe that their strong faith and access to clean and safe housing at Halo House played a critical part in Dallas’ healing. In December 2019, Dallas he received the amazing news at he could go home just in time for Christmas with their family and friends. Sharla and Dallas came back to Houston in February for his 100-day post-transplant follow up and received the incredible news that he is in remission! And before they left Houston once again for home, their visit wouldn’t have been complete without first stopping by to visit with their Halo House family! Congratulations to the Taylor family – we are so thankful that we were able to provide a safe haven for you during your treatment.