HELP ME, HELP A MOTHER AND HER CHILD

I met this young woman and her 6 year old child on my way home from work one night after shift. The stars aligned perfectly, and I got out of work much later than I usually would.

To protect their identity I will not be disclosing their names or posting their picture. However, if you are compelled to help me help them after you read their story, I will personally, send you a picture of them happily moved into their new home. For now, just know that she is young and determined to succeed and he is a creative, smart and funny little dude with the coolest dreads!

They were sitting at the corner of my building seeking shelter from the rain on a rather cold South Florida night. It was 1:30 in the morning, and she was wide awake watching like a hawk while he slept on her lap. After speaking to her, I learned that she was fleeing a domestic situation and one night, things got bad enough for her that she felt the streets were safer than her living situation at the time.

She packed a few things (most of them for her son), got on a bus and left.

Despite her circumstances, she did a great job for WEEKS taking care of her child on the street via showering at a church, washing their clothes etc. She had been doing such a great job, that if you had seen them under regular circumstances, you would have never known they were experiencing homelessness.

After I verified she was who she said she was, and the child was indeed hers (not an abduction etc.), I knew that I had a DUTY to help and a big decision to make. I would either turn them over to the system to do what they could for them (maybe even separate them) or answer the call that I was given to help them.

Well, I am convinced now more than ever that God or the universe (or whatever you believe in) literally sent them to my doorstep for me to help them. So at 3:30 in the morning, I took them into my own home, provided them with shelter in my guest bedroom and started a plan to help them get back on their feet. At first, I thought I would make some calls, try to get them into a shelter and move on.

However, I quickly learned that the shelters were full, and as I got to know them, I knew this woman and her child deserved a real chance to succeed and become independent. I did not want her to become part of a never-ending broken system.

I kept what I was doing to myself and did not take to social media with it because that is not why I was doing it. Between then and now, a lot has transpired and I have received help and support from some amazing members of the community to get us to this point where I am able to share all of this with you all. THANKS TO SOME AMAZING PEOPLE ( I will share their identities later on with their permission), the little dude has some awesome new gear, a huge smile every day. Additionally, mom has more than two pairs of underwear, I have found a job for her, I enrolled little dude back in school and after school care (yesss Val Mejia has been waking up at 7:20am for school drop off !!!!) and most importantly, on February 1st they will be moving into their OWN apartment.

I am NOW reaching out to you all for TWO VERY SPECIFIC REASONS. If you know me, you know it is not often that I ask for help, and I was not even sure I would share this with you all this time around either.

However, #1 I found this to be an excellent opportunity to hopefully remind everyone that sometimes people just need a helping hand, a stranger to BELIEVE in them and with a village a life or two can be changed and an impact can be made.

#2, now that mom and little dude have the basics to succeed, I would reallyyyyy reallyyyy like to provide them with some furniture and basic supplies for their new apartment. Sharing this is out of my comfort zone, but I knew I had to do it. I know there is an entire community out there who if made aware, will be willing to help with any donation they can to assist me in setting them up.

No matter how big or small your donation is, I guarantee you that it will be put to amazing use and I will be forever grateful.