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Holding on at the ‘Center of Hope’
Being bom into poverty
by
M arian W right
E delman
Every 29 seconds, a c h ild is
b o m into poverty in A m erica.
T he birth rate into poverty
translates to 124 children e v
ery hour. Children like 10-year-
old Tyler, five-year-old K eiris,
and four-year-old Jerim iah, w ho live w ith
th e ir m o th e r, C h r is tin a W y a tt, 2 4 , in
M iddletow n, O hio.
In the sum m er o f 2011 the fam ily m oved
into the C enter o f H ope for W om en and
C hildren, a hom eless shelter, after their apart
m ent w as robbed and they w ere evicted.
T h eir only incom e at that point w as a Social
S ecurity disability check for T yler, w ho has
D ow n syndrom e.
“ I had to, really,” C hristina said about
m oving into the shelter. “ W e d id n ’t have
anyw here to g o.”
W hen Pulitzer Prize-w inning reporter Julia
C ass m et the fam ily there w hile on assig n
m e n t fo r the C h ild re n ’s D efen se F und,
C h ristin a’s voice broke as she describ ed her
determ ination to “get it back tog eth er” and
build a life for her children different from her
ow n.
“I d o n ’t w ant them to experience even a
little bit o f w hat I did. I w ant to give them the
childhood I never had,” she said.
C h ristin a ’s ow n childhood in the C in cin
nati area included a m other w ho d id n ’t seem
to w ant her, a fath er w ho d id n 't take good
care o f her, and occasional stays in foster
hom es.
“I sort o f took care o f m y self from about
12,” C h ristin a said. She w ent to school and
m ade m oney babysitting. B ut w hen she
was 14, the fath er o f tw o girls she babysat
for raped her.
“ I w as really scared ,” she said. “ I d id n ’t
tell anyone. T h en I got sick and found out I
w as p reg n an t.”
She co n tin u ed to go to school for a w hile
but quit because she w as “harassed by other
kids at the school w ho really d id n ’t u n d er
stand m y situ atio n .” W hen she found out the
baby had D ow n syndrom e she considered
giving him up for adoption but “ som ething
told me to keep him . He was a gift from G od.”
A s she spoke, T y ler bounded into the
fa m ily ’s spartan room at the shelter, sm iled
broadly and clow ned around, d em onstrating
his a b ility to d o th e M ic h a e l J a c k so n
m oonw alk. He goes to a regular school but is
taken out for speech and physical therapy.
■ “T y ler is actually a very intelligent young
m an,” C h ristin a said. “ He has trouble sp eak
ing clearly but he gets his point across.” She
said that his teachers and “ev erybody he
m eets” love him . “H e ’s got that jo y ,” she
said. “ H e ’s very sp ecial.”
She had to fight to keep him . A fter he was
b om , they both lived in a special foster hom e
for teenage m others and their babies, w here
C h ristin a noticed a pattern.
Florida.
“ A fter a couple m onths, the girls lost
T h en C h ristin a got sick, lost h er jo b , and
custody o f their ch ild ren .” O ut o f fear o f fell behind in the rent. D uring the sam e tough
losing T y ler to strangers, she asked her tim es the apartm ent w as robbed. C hristina
m other to take tem porary custody o f him . At also lost the M edicaid and food stam ps she
17, the fo ster care system set C hristina up in and the ch ild ren had been receiving.
an apartm ent, paid her expenses, and gave
T he system in M iddletow n now involves
her allow ance, but at 18 she was “em an ci a telephone interview rath er than a personal
p ated ” from foster care and on h er ow n.
one, but C h ristin a said she d id n ’t get the
She got custody o f T y ler back. Soon after,
notice about the phone appointm ent, and in
she m oved in w ith the m an w ho is K eiris and
any case, she had no phone. Finally, they gqt
Jerim ia h ’s father, but “ he w a sn ’t a good evicted. T h a t’s w hen she asked h er m other to
p e rso n .”
drive h er and the ch ild ren to the C en ter o f
C hristina paused and declared in a strong
H ope w ith a back p ack o f th eir clothes and a
voice, “ E v ery th in g I ’ve b een th ro u g h I book bag filled w ith a few toys.
learned from . I w ould n ev er put up w ith
C hristina also brought along som e hopes
anything like that again. I know I’m m ore than o f h er ow n: She deeply w ants to get h er G E D
so m eb o d y ’s punching bag .”
and then go to co lleg e— not a vocational/
For m ost o f her ch ild re n ’s lives C hristina
technical school or online school but a real
has supported the fam ily w ith food stam ps college. She c a n ’t explain w hy, but she w ants
and m inim um w age jo b s - M cD o n ald ’s, Sub to be a law yer. She also has a passion for
w ay, a factory that produced products for writing.
Procter and G am ble, w aitressing at the c o u n
“ I feel like I can do b etter than a m inim um
try club - and w ith cash assistance (T em p o w age jo b . I ’d be a lot h ap p ier if I w ere in
rary A ssistance for N eedy F am ilies) betw een
school and m oving forw ard to som ething
jo b s.
better. T hat is the only answ er, in my eyes, for
C hristina m o v e d to M iddletow n, w here
us to have any kind o f life.”
her m other lives, tw o years ago. She got an
C h ristin a is still d eterm in ed to give her
apartm ent and a jo b at a gas station and m ade children a b etter ch ild h o o d than she had, and
a deal w ith h er fo rm er stepfather, a reco v er though h er ow n ch ild h o o d gave h er few road
ing alcoholic: he could live in the apartm ent
m aps, she w ants to find a w ay to keep m oving
in exchange for helping out a little bit fin an forw ard. I truly hope she succeeds.
cially and babysitting the children w hile she
Marian Wright 'Edelman is president o f
w orked. But that ended w hen he m oved to the Children's Defense Fund.
Praying for a ‘Just Peace,’ a Ceasefire
C an you im agine? Justice and
W itness M inistries has long used
the them e, “ Im agine, A nother W orld
Is P ossible.”
by M ichael N euroth
It re m in d s us o f th e ty p e o f
O n Friday, Sept. 21, people o f w o rld w e are w o rk in g for: a w o rld
faith from around the w orld will take in w h ic h sy ste m ic in ju s tic e , ra c
a m om ent from their daily lives and ism , se x ism , p o v e rty , an d e n v i
offer up prayers for peace.
ro n m e n ta l d e g ra d a tio n are th in g s
“ International D ay o f P eace” and o f th e p ast.
“ International D ay o f P rayer for
It envisions a w orld in w hich
P eace” are m arked by the U nited e v ery o n e has q u ality e d u catio n ,
N ations and by the W orld C ouncil housing, and health care. Security
o f C hurches respectively each year. w ould be defined not by m axim um
In the U .S., the U nited C hurch o f security prisons or pentagon b ud
C hrist is partn erin g w ith the W orld gets, but by the strength o f o u r
C ouncil o f C hurches to encourage com m unity. It points us to im agine
individuals and congregations to G o d ’s Shalom , a ‘Just P eace,’ a
pray for peace under the them e ‘ ‘Pray Ceasefire.
ing for C easefire.”
In to d a y ’s w orld, hope fo r a
A nother w orld
is possible
JJartlanb (Dbseruer
Established 1970
Charles H. Washington
EDiroR.M ichael L e ig h to n
A ssistant to P ublisher , P ublic R elations : M a rk W a s h in g to n
C reative D irector : P a u l N e u fe ld t
A ssistant to P ubusher , O ffice M anager /C lassifieds : Lucinda Baldwin
A ssistant P ubusher : Leonard Latin
A dvertising M anager , P ublic R elations : Tony Washington
S taff W riter /P hotographer : Mindy Cooper
E d it o r - i n - C h ie f , P u b l is h e r :
ceasefire seem s audacious, even and fantastical vehicles such as a lence, is a hope and a vision w orth
im possible. W ith our troops now pickle car, a hot dog car, and a cheese w orking for, dream ing for, and pray
en g ag ed in A fghanistan for over a block car (driven by m ice). T here is ing for.
decade, the drum beat to w ar w ith also a page that is full o f arm y v e
Im possible? M aybe. But, if our
Iran ever-increasing, civil war in Syria hicles and tanks.
children see a w orld w ithout w ar
raging, and gun violence shaking
A lthough he usually w ants to and find tanks h ard er to im agine
o u r c o n scio u sn ess from A urora, skip this page, recently m y so n ’s than cars m ade out o f cheese, m aybe
C olo., to N ew Y ork C ity, a ceasefire gaze focused on these m ilitary v e it’s tim e for us to stretch o u r im agi
is hard to im agine.
hicles w ith a quizzical look. “ W hat nations. “ U nless you change and
U n fo rtu n a te ly , as a d u lts o u r is this?” he asked, as he pointed to becom e like c h ild re n ...” (M atthew
im agination is often tim es lim ited by the tip o f a tank cannon.
18:3)
o ur ow n experience, o u r ow n cy n i
M y heart sank as I tried to explain
T his Sept. 21, jo in thousands o f
cism.
in sim ple term s com plex concepts as people around the w orld in stretch
As a parent, I often w ish I still had violence and the m ilitary. I could tell ing o ur collective im agination. O f
the im agination o f m y young son. that for him , a car m ade out o f cheese fer a p ray er for peace, a p ray er for
O ne o f m y s o n 's favorite books is is easier to im agine than a tank d e ceasefire in o u r hom es, o u r co m m u
R ichard S c a rry ’s “ B usytow n” . As signed to hurt others. I w ish that I nities, and o u r w orld.
m any parents know , the w orld o f could say the sam e.
Michael Neuroth is policy advo
R ichard Scarry is truly “another
It takes im agination, but im ag in cate fo r international issues fo r the
w o rld .” It is full o f talking anim als ing “ceasefire,” a w orld w ithout vio United Church o f Christ.
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