Seven-month-old Sariah moves. She stretches, rolls over, and slips back into a deep sleep. Mykia wakes to tears rolling down her cheeks as sunlight creeps into the room, announcing a new day. It is her birthday. Lying there, she relives her four years of being trapped in an abusive relationship.
“He never celebrated me—never celebrated my birthday,” she thinks and quietly sobs.
A short time after Sariah was born, Mykia learned her partner was cheating on her again. A few months later, she discovered she was pregnant. The abuse grew worse. On the floor, she tucked her legs to protect herself as he kicked her in anger. She always believed it would get better. She even hoped that after Sariah was born, he would change and they could be the family she always dreamed of. But she knew then it had to stop.
Mykia hid her phone beneath her shirt and asked if she could go to the bathroom. He nodded his approval. She had placed a bottle of water behind the commode. Closing the door, she slowly poured from the bottle—the sound was expected and helped hide her urgent call to her sister. “Come. It is dangerous. Save me.”
“I had to do something to protect Sariah and the baby,” Mykia says. “It was no longer about me and my fairytale dreams. I didn’t want this life for them. I didn’t want them to be hurt.”
With a restraining order issued and safely tucked away in a temporary emergency shelter for women and children escaping domestic violence, Mykia finally felt like she could breathe again. It wasn’t easy. She took care of Sariah but didn’t eat or care for herself as waves of anxiety and depression washed over her. It was like coming out of the haze of an addiction.
“I finally woke up one day and decided to fight for myself and for my children,” Mykia asserts.
She was referred to the Family Care program at Kennedy Home in Kinston. Family Care offers a supportive, safe home for hard-working, single mothers and their children. The nine-month program is goal-focused and helps mothers transition to successful, independent living.
“Mykia is a good mom,” Family Care Worker April Uzzell says. “Her main goal is to learn how to parent well. She asks questions and wants to learn how to better care for Sariah and the new baby due in December.”
Less than a month after entering the program, Mykia has a job and has saved to repair her car. She works at a local restaurant and loves it. She attends church regularly and is rebuilding relationships with her family.
“She is determined,” Uzzell says. “It is like she is making up for lost time. She is not letting her past slow her down.”
Mykia realizes she needed to let others help her. Through the Family Care program, she is connecting with resources and community services needed to bring stability to her life and empower her to keep her family together in the future.
She is opening up and trusting people. Before, she had lost hope—now hope has returned.
“I read again,” she says. “I sing again, write in my journal, and I’m living again. I am able to dream now—for me and for my children.”
A call from her mom helps brighten this birthday morning. She needs to rise, take care of Sariah, and be ready for her workday.
Her manager greets her at the restaurant door and whisks her away to a shelf-stocking chore in the back. She emerges after the lunch rush to a strange silence. She is called to the kitchen, walks through the door, and is greeted by friends, cake, and “Happy Birthday!” Tears return, but this time they are tears of joy.
Written by Jim Edminson, Editor of Charity and Children