“I went to church when I was growing up---this is the Bible Belt after all---but it was just to make my parents happy. I wasn’t into it. Then, in college, I got pregnant. After that, I thought: ‘I’ll never go back now. Everybody will talk about me.’ I was scared and upset because I was just a child myself; my parents were still paying my bills. I didn’t want to become a statistic, but I didn’t know how I was going to take care of this baby. My dad had been very ill and he passed away before I found out I was expecting, so part of my support system was gone, which made it even harder. For a long time I avoided church like the plague; I thought everybody would look down on me. But five years ago, a former coworker recommended me for a program her church had that provided Christmas for single parents, and after that I thought I would try it. I would visit. I had in mind just to go in, say my prayers, and leave, but from the moment I stepped through those doors, they were so welcoming. They loved me, they loved my son, and they helped me feel a part of a single moms class where other mothers were dealing with the same things I was dealing with. I felt such relief. I thought, ‘This is home. I’ll be here till I die.’ My son is 9 now and loves it too. Between the mentoring he's received at church and in his Taekwondo classes, he's doing well and is a very happy kid. I know I couldn’t have made it without the support I’ve gotten.
“I’m working on my PhD now at the University of Memphis, and my emphasis is on helping and supporting other struggling families. I’ve been working quite a bit lately with residents of Foote Homes. When it’s torn down, many of them will be displaced, and they’re worried. Sitting down with them, forming relationships, and talking about the challenges they face made me realize I didn’t know as much as I thought. What I think they need, they may not. A woman recently told me, ‘I wish someone higher up would come into our community and ask us what our needs are instead of just creating more programs. They think, Oh, give her more food stamps, but I don’t need more food stamps. Once we have to leave, I’m going to need transportation and childcare. I had it all worked out with the help of neighbors and friends, but when my home is gone, what am I going to do? Where am I going to go? How will I get to the places I need to be?’ These residents are losing relationships they’ve had for a lifetime. They’re losing connections to organizations and resources they trust and have had access to for years. There are resource people who've been appointed to help, but it takes time to develop trust relationships. There’s so much fear about the changes, fear for their children, and stress about the future. We need to be listening to these families and finding out from them what they need most. My dream is to someday be able to provide a resource center for people who are struggling: a one-stop place where they can have housing, job training, classes, counseling, day care, transportation options, and other services. So many people need help."
“I’m working on my PhD now at the University of Memphis, and my emphasis is on helping and supporting other struggling families. I’ve been working quite a bit lately with residents of Foote Homes. When it’s torn down, many of them will be displaced, and they’re worried. Sitting down with them, forming relationships, and talking about the challenges they face made me realize I didn’t know as much as I thought. What I think they need, they may not. A woman recently told me, ‘I wish someone higher up would come into our community and ask us what our needs are instead of just creating more programs. They think, Oh, give her more food stamps, but I don’t need more food stamps. Once we have to leave, I’m going to need transportation and childcare. I had it all worked out with the help of neighbors and friends, but when my home is gone, what am I going to do? Where am I going to go? How will I get to the places I need to be?’ These residents are losing relationships they’ve had for a lifetime. They’re losing connections to organizations and resources they trust and have had access to for years. There are resource people who've been appointed to help, but it takes time to develop trust relationships. There’s so much fear about the changes, fear for their children, and stress about the future. We need to be listening to these families and finding out from them what they need most. My dream is to someday be able to provide a resource center for people who are struggling: a one-stop place where they can have housing, job training, classes, counseling, day care, transportation options, and other services. So many people need help."
Georgette Kearney teaches a campus orientation class for new students at the University of Memphis, owns a travel business, and is currently in a doctoral program at the U of M. She has two Bachelor's degrees (one in Communication and one in Education) and an M.A. in Public Administration & Counseling. The two organizations mentioned in this story are Highpoint Church and Midtown Taekwondo.
RSS Feed