When Latisha Humphrey’s soon-to-be ex-husband kicked her out a year ago, she made the heartbreaking decision to leave her three children there while she was homeless and slept everywhere from a car to under bridges.
Humphrey recently was approved for her current living situation, but all she had was clothes and a pillow. The apartment was completely unfurnished, including no mattresses.
Humphrey went and got her children back 10 days ago after their father left the state — leaving them unsupervised at that home. The apartment was still unfurnished.
That’s where the Alma Randolph Charitable Foundation stepped in and changed the lives of Humphrey and her children. Through the Hands Up To Succeed (HUTS) project, the foundation provided three full bedroom sets, a washer and dryer, a fridges, living room furniture, and more.
Humphrey and her children spent three nights at the Holiday Inn Riverfront while the foundation furnished the apartment. Saturday morning the family was brought back home by Limos by Knight before an emotional unveiling of their new home.
Humphrey’s journey over the last year
“My soon-to-be ex-husband and I are going through a very ugly divorce,” Humphrey said. “I left him in November of last year. At first we were both okay with living in the same house. Then he kicked me out. I was sleeping under bridges, at the river, here, there, in my car at the point in time when I had a car, just anywhere I can basically find to sleep.”
While she was on a waiting list for her living situation, she wanted to do what was best for the children.
“I didn’t have custody of my kids because as a mother, I didn’t want to put them in the situation that I was in,” she said. “So I agreed for them to stay with her dad.”
Humphrey used everything she had saved up to move in once she was approved.
“I didn’t have anything. Nothing at all,” she said. “When I moved in here I just basically had my clothes and a pillow. I was sleeping on the floors.”
Then, she said, her childrens’ father went out of state and left the children home by themselves.
“I went and I got my kids,” she said. “That’s when I called Alma and told her I said I have my kids now. So, they helped me hurry up and get beds in here for them.”
Humphrey said it was an emotional journey, but no matter what her focus was always on her children.
“Being in the situation I was in, I don’t wish it on anybody at all. … Those are my babies, I want to protect them until the day I die,” she said. “It was heartbreaking that their dad left them like that. I had to leave my kids and I shouldn’t have had to leave them. It was a hard decision to do but I wasn’t going to have them sleeping on the streets with me, and then risk social services getting them and putting them in foster care. So I did what was best.”
How the foundation helped
The charitable foundation has been helping families through the HUTS program since 2016. They typically unveil the annual projects and help the families in December, but every now and then an emergency situation pops up.
Randolph is very clear that no matter how tough the situation, her foundation is not providing a handout, but instead a hand up. She said the families must show they are working to better their situation.
She said the foundation was eager to help Humphrey once they learned of her situation and how she was doing all she could to provide for her children.
Randolph said Humphrey already has a job lined up. The foundation had evidence that Humphrey worked prior to being nominated for this assistance and is working with a lawyer to get her divorce so that she can be established financially.
“She’s a model for the parents that we want to give a hand up to succeed,” Randolph said. “This was the most difficult project that we’ve done since 2016 when we established the HUTS project. It’s also the most emotional. We were energized, motivated once we received the application.”
Randolph added, “This is someone who deserves a hand up because there are mothers who would use everything that’s happened as an excuse to just say, ‘OK, the world owes me.’ That’s just not her.”
A sense of relief
Humphreys has two daughters, 13 and 11 years old, as well as a 7-year-old son. As they walked through the door and saw their new living room, all they could do was smile and look around in awe.
They walked through to the kitchen and dining room, which had a new table and chairs along with numerous groceries to help until SNAP benefits kick in.
The emotions really came out upstairs as they took turns entering their new bedrooms. The sisters couldn’t hold back tears as they saw their new beds clad with purple and black blankets. The son stood with his arms wide and mouth open as he looked around his football-themed room.
Humphrey’s room was decked out with red and black with a floral theme. Almost nervous at first to sit on her new bed, her disbelief melted away as relief flooded her body. Her children all laid beside her as they spent a minute in pure joy to be together under the same roof again.
“I felt relaxed,” Humphrey said of that moment. “I felt relieved that I didn’t really have to worry about much of anything. My kids are home. I just felt like I don’t have anything to worry about. Taking care of them is what I need to worry about.”
Struggling to hold back tears, Humphrey thanked Randolph for everything, saying “You made it where I didn’t have to worry about when my kids’ next meal is, or where they’re going to sleep, or how comfortable they’re going to be. My kids were surprised as well. My youngest doesn’t show emotions, and she showed some emotions today.”
