An Impossible Situation

Evelyn, a young mom to two boys, found herself in an impossible situation when her youngest son was sick. They didn’t have any money to take him to a hospital after the financial impact that the pandemic had on her family. Darwin, her husband, had left for work at sunrise, knowing that he would be paid that day and with the money he earned, they could take their baby son to the hospital to get the care he needed. 

But throughout the morning, Evelyn saw that her baby was getting sicker. Terrified, she went to a family member's house, not knowing what else to do. Her family member told her that they could go together and ask for donations from strangers at a stoplight just a few blocks from where they lived. Throughout the pandemic, this family member had done this with her kids at various points just to get by. 

Evelyn had never begged for money and never wanted to, but in this impossible situation, she felt so helpless she agreed to give it a try. She told her relative she would just be there until she got enough money to pay to take her baby to the hospital.

But while they were at the stoplight asking for money, the police and the child welfare office showed up.

The child welfare office had launched a program around this time to get kids off of the streets. They were attempting to warn families of the dangers of strangers, traffic, exploitation, and so many other risks for kids on the streets. The officials would make their rounds, warning families to go back home, but if a family was found a second time after the warning, they would take the kids and place them in an orphanage.

Evelyn had never begged before, but her family member had been at this intersection with her own kids. Because they were family, the child welfare officials decided to take all the kids.

Evelyn and Darwin filed all of the paperwork with the child welfare office to get him back. However, with so many changes in staffing at the child welfare office, their case was passed from one new lawyer to the next, and over a year passed without them being able to get their son back home.

When we met them, despite still living in poverty, they had created much more stability for themselves and had bought a piece of land to build a home. Our team was able to provide them with the materials they needed to build their home in a community where, even though it is an impoverished area, they are surrounded by so much emotional wealth, by so much extended family, and by a true support system that will be the village their kids need to thrive. This, paired with their commitment to change the narrative for their kids, providing them with an education and opportunities that they never had, they have so much hope for the life ahead of their sons. After passing through all of the necessary steps with the child welfare office...

Jeremy was reunited with Evelyn, Darwin, and his older brother, Junior!

(As you can tell, they are all really happy about it, too!)

We believe in the power of change and that situations truly can improve when a family is willing to fight for it and has access to much-needed support. Kids can ultimately return home to their empowered families, just like for Jeremy and his family. 

Thank you for supporting Embraced in making this kind of change possible.

*this family has given permission to share these parts of their story and their pictures.