The Enquirer and United Way of Greater Cincinnati have joined forces for the 39th year to help families in need with the Wish List program. After wishes are granted, remaining funds assist people with similar needs throughout the year. This is the first of eight stories.
Maria Johnson doesn’t usually wake up before dawn like she did this past June 13.
“I don’t know what made me get up as early as I did that day,” she said. To a 28-year-old mother of four girls, all under the age of 5, sleep is a precious commodity. For Maria, being out of bed and alert that morning may have saved her family.
She remembers giving the kids oranges for a pre-breakfast snack, then hearing a huge boom that sent her outside her Newport home to investigate. Moments later, Maria saw flames jump from her neighbors’ burning house to hers. She ran back in and got her family out safely.
The five of them, including daughters Azrael, Athena, Maria and Zayrinna – lost nearly everything they owned that morning. But even as they stood outside barefoot, watching flames consume the only home they’d shared – a place that was a refuge from a domestic violence situation – Maria refused to lose faith.
“When you have kids and you’re all they have, you can’t really give up,” she said. “You’ve got to keep pushing, no matter what life throws at you.”
In the months that followed, Maria did exactly that. The family spent weeks moving between temporary spaces, including a concrete basement, before finally settling into a modest apartment she considers a blessing.
“You never realize how much your own space matters until you’re in situations like that, where you kind of have no choice but to lean on other people,” she said.
Her daughters now sleep on donated handmade wooden bunk beds. “They’re happy. They love their beds,” Maria said. “Every now and then, my oldest will cry because she misses the house.”
Maria’s own room, for now, has no bed at all. “It’s more of a storage unit,” she explained. That means she spends most nights sleeping on the couch or floor.
During the day, Maria juggles parenting with shifts as a delivery driver, trying to keep up with the expenses of raising four young children. It doesn’t take much to drain her income.
“Last time I did laundry, I spent almost everything I made besides what I needed for gas,” Maria said. “That could’ve gone toward new clothes for them, more clothes for winter.”
When she can’t afford the laundromat, Maria does the washing by hand in the bathtub. “The process takes a whole day,” she said. “But having four little ones, there’s just no way to not continuously do laundry.”
Maria’s Wish List is not extravagant – warm winter clothes for her four girls and a washer and dryer to save her time and money cleaning them. “That would be a lifesaver,” Maria said. A bed of her own would provide some quality rest – energy she could put toward her family’s future.
Maria is thankful for the support her family has already received, including from EC LEARN, a United Way–supported early childhood program she connected with through her children’s child care provider.
“I appreciate and I’m blessed to have all the people who reached out and helped,” she said. “They’ve shown me that there are still people who care, people who want to help you do better, people who want to see you succeed.”
United Way and The Enquirer created the Wish List program to share stories like Maria’s – reminders of what neighbors’ generosity can mean to families rebuilding from hardship. Each gift, large or small, helps restore stability, safety and hope.
For Maria, that hope is already taking root. Her girls are learning from the example she’s set – that even in loss, love endures.
“People should always keep faith that there’s somebody out there that cares,” she said. “The world has a lot of hate, but we need more kindness – for sure.”
Maria’s wish: Washer/dryer, full-size bed; for her four daughters, winter clothes, bedding, dressers for bedroom.
Estimated cost: $5,000.
How to help
Donations can be made online at www.uwgc.org/wishlist. You can also mail donations to: United Way of Greater Cincinnati, Attn: Wish List Pledge Processing, P.O. Box 632840, Cincinnati, OH 45263-2840. Please include “Wish List” in the memo line on checks.
Andy Smith is the content manager at United Way.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Newport mom of 4 rebuilds after fire: ‘You’ve got to keep pushing’
Reporting by Andy Smith, United Way of Greater Cincinnati / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
