Ask Kendra DeVaughn how she is and she smiles.
She’s good. Blessed. Excited as she sits on the couch of the West 38th Street apartment she’s called home since August.
A year ago, she wasn’t as optimistic. Far from it.
She worked and lived at Community Resource Center, but problems and rising rent forced her out. She found out she was pregnant, but the father walked away. She struggled with ongoing depression.
DeVaughn was lost.
“I just kept thinking, ‘How am I going to do this?’” she said.
Her parents lived in the Argyle Forest area, but her mother was in poor health. DeVaughn didn’t want her own problems to worry them, especially her mother in her final months.
So, DeVaughn kept the situation to herself until she was visited by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in her final weeks at the center. She opened up to them and was told help was available. Some members rented a truck and packed her belongings, putting them in storage and paying the rent.
They also guided her to Sulzbacher Center.
“I was nervous,” said DeVaughn. “They (people at Sulzbacher) were strangers and I’m used to being around people I know.”
But she went, hoping her friendly, outgoing personality would lead others to treat her the same way. A pregnant DeVaughn was welcomed and provided a warm home off the streets, advocates who wanted to help and new friends dealing with hardships of their own.
She still kept the secret from her parents, even as the months wore on.
“It was horrible,” she said.
She’d visit them every other week or so, changing the subject or assuring them she was OK when they questioned her living situation.
Her now 6-year-old daughter wasn’t with her all the time, either. She’d sent Angel to be with her cousin, wanting her to be with family while she worked things out.
She still kept it all inside.
During Christmas, though, her parents started catching on. They figured out she was pregnant — it was pretty tough to hide.
But it never became a big ordeal. Weeks later, DeVaughn’s mother’s deteriorating health finally took her life. Or as DeVaughn says, she was rescued from the pain.
Losing her was tough on everyone, with emotions spilling over into words between DeVaughn and her father. People grieve differently.
DeVaughn still kept her secret. She was still at Sulzbacher, counting the days until baby Nicholas was born. Sulzbacher staff and residents were equally as excited.
One day after her mother passed away, DeVaughn was depressed but woke up after someone said she should come to the center’s kitchen. Begrudgingly, she rose from bed but was floored by what she saw.
A big basket, filled with baby toys, clothes, items. It was a surprise baby shower, her first.
“It was beautiful,” she said.
On March 6, Nicholas was born right on his due date.
As time went on, case workers helped her find steady housing and support. DeVaughn had saved some of her temporary disability check each month that came from an accident that occurred.
Then she got the call. They’d found an arrangement for the next step of helping her get on her feet.
An apartment — a home — for her and her family.
“When he first got here, he knew it was home,” she said of Nicholas. “He was on the floor, laughing and smiling … you could tell he knew this was home.”
Angel will be joining them soon once her room is set up.
So will DeVaughn’s father. It’s time for him to come for a visit.
He still doesn’t know her struggles of the past year, she said. But she’s telling him the whole story soon over a home-cooked Sunday dinner. It’ll be his favorite: Fried chicken, greens and macaroni and cheese — mom’s recipes, of course.
“I want him to know,” she said. “I want him to know I failed but I got right back up, dusted myself off and I’m back on my feet.”
From there, she’ll continue to pursue her GED and courses needed to become a nurse. She wants to give back, provide help like she received the past year. A year that’s gone from unknowing desperation to feelings of positivity and hope.
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