Jessica, Louis, & Mason’s Story
Originally Published in December 2020
Jessica and Louis have been married for 7 years. 5 years ago, before they were homeless, they had a baby born with a heart condition. The death of that child, only 2 hours after birth, was the moment when their life fell apart. At the time, they lived with Jessica’s family in Pennsylvania. Unable to process such devastating loss, Jessica’s family blamed her and Louis for the death of their baby. The couple left PA to start a new life in SC and overcome their grief, but unfortunately, their plans didn’t work out and they soon became homeless. In 2018, the couple was expecting again but was still homeless. For the entire pregnancy of their second child, they were living out of their car. Mason was born premature, and placed in the NICU, with the same heart condition as Jessica and Louis’ deceased child. During Mason’s time in the NICU, Jessica and Louis slept at the hospital.
When Jessica and Louis came to our shelter in September 2019, their 3 month old son, Mason, had just had open heart surgery. Prior to this they were staying at another shelter, but were only allowed to stay 90 days. Despite their 3 month old son’s heart condition, no exception was made and their family was back on the streets again. Shortly after getting into our shelter, their car was repossessed.
Things started to look up for Jessica, Louis, and Mason after their case manager connected them with mental health therapy, a social security advocate, a marriage counselor, and signed them up for housing programs. For the first time in years, they had a safe and consistent place to stay with the resources that they needed to secure a better life for themselves and their son. During their stay with us, 4 potential apartments for their family fell through, some of them due to the uncertainty of COVID-19. After months of waiting, Jessica, Louis, and Mason finally moved into their apartment in May 2020, the first place of their own in more than 5 years. Thanks to their case manager, on-going services have been set up to help them continue to be successful.
UPDATE - May 2023
Jessica and Louis came to visit the Family Shelter and we were proud to hear that they have continued to thrive. They have had another child, Samantha (a perfectly healthy baby girl who has no heart issues!) and their son Mason (who will be turning four next month) continues to see a cardiologist regularly but has had no further issues. After living in Conway, SC for the past three years, their family will be moving to a new, larger home in Marlboro County, where they will have 3 bedrooms, a yard, and a more affordable living situation. We are so happy to see them continue to grow as a family and that the services and resources they received at New Directions set them up for long-term success.
