But at the time Taliercio owed around $22,000
to mobster John Gotti in bad gambling debts.
He had to come up with the money in order to
keep from being killed.
As is often the case with serious drug
addicts, Taliercio would sell everything to buy
more drugs. This led to the sale of his gun, so
he stole his mother’s butcher knife to hold
people up.
Though his parents’ love was unwavering,
enough was enough. They made him leave
and refused to let him come back home.
Taliercio found himself homeless and living
in an abandoned building at the age of 30.
While existing in the makeshift rat hole, he
was stabbed five times and sustained multiple
lacerations.
After lifesaving surgery, Taliercio went
to rehab. Although his conversion to a
meaningful life was not instantaneous, the
process of healing began when he entered a
Christian-based program.
“This was the fourth rehab I’d been to,”
he says, but Taliercio feels that the spiritual
element made all the difference. While there,
he heard a man named Kevin Henessey speak.
Henessey had also been addicted to drugs and
involved in a life of crime. He spoke of how he
had recovered and began a program to help
other drug addicts.
It was at this point that Taliercio thought,
“This guy is just like me. He had all the same
problems and yet he overcame. I’d like to be
like him.” Then he felt, down deep inside, a
small voice of hope that said, “Not only will
you overcome your addiction, you’ll start
your own program to help others.” Though
Taliercio remembered it and took it to heart,
he didn’t really understand how that could
possibly happen.
Once his rehab was complete, he was
reluctant to leave, afraid he would relapse once
back on the streets. But instead, he became a
source of encouragement to others struggling
with addiction. God had changed his life and
he wanted to share it with anyone who would
stand still long enough to listen. He went
back to the street people who were addicted
to drugs, relating the clear and simple message
that there is hope for a better way to live.
Eventually he partnered with a man
named Chuck Vedral and founded a feeding
ministry called The Father’s Heart in lower
East Manhattan. This ministry continues
today under Vedral’s direction and feeds over
800 people a week, while offering emotional,
physical and spiritual support to those who are
suffering and oftentimes homeless.
Taliercio began traveling all over the
country, raising funds
for The Father’s Heart
ministries, which is
how he came to live in
Greensburg. He was a
guest speaker at The Word
of Life Church, and over
the next two years the
church kept asking for him
to come back. Greensburg began to grow on
him and he found himself serving as a full-time
pastor at the Word of Life Church. He tried
to start a Father’s Heart ministry locally, but
nothing seemed to work out.
“Every time I would try to start something,
a door would be slammed in my face,” says
Taliercio. He was turned down for loans by the
banks and couldn’t generate any real interest in
getting the program off the ground. But after
he had almost given up on the idea, thinking
he was too old, a friend contacted him with the
news that the old St. Boniface Catholic Church
was up for sale.
“I knew as soon as I turned the corner
and saw it,” says Taliercio. “There were four
wonderful buildings for only $125,000. It was
a miracle that this facility
was available at that price!
It was exactly what we
needed.” Taliercio was able
to acquire the campus by
putting up his retirement
and set to work right away
building an outreach to
help the community.
The Father’s Heart has a
feeding ministry both at the
campus and as an outreach
program. Just recently, he
learned that 9,000 lbs. of
food per week will be made
available to the ministry.
There is also a special
program designed for
women enslaved to
anything that keeps them
from leading a fulfilled life,
including drugs, alcohol,
eating disorders and
depression. He hopes to
soon start a similar program
for men. Taliercio is also
passionate about keeping
kids off of drugs and there are many programs
evolving to help children and teens.
Although the support ministries are
Christian-based, Taliercio describes it
as all-denominational, rather than nondenominational, since people from all faiths
are participating. The whole organization is
run mostly by volunteers and a handful of staff
members who are paid a nominal salary of
about $125 a week.
Taliercio adds, “It’s an extreme blessing
to have so many people excited about th