Adopt A Stocking: Mother wants Christmas for children

LIMA — You walk through the front door and immediately see the shoes neatly lined up in the hallway. There are kids in the home. Void of holiday decorations, Lakeisha neatly maintains the house as best she can. Everything centers around her children. Lakeisha has four children – two adults, a teenager who is 15 and a ten-year old.

The 20 year-old is a Marimor graduate who is autistic and has epilepsy. He goes to adult day care only three days a week. The remaining days he is at home where Lakeisha provides the care for her special needs son.

A second child, diagnosed with ADHD, also has epilepsy. The care that she must provide for the two limits her availability for full-time work. It’s been a while since Lakeisha has worked a steady job. She hasn’t worked since October. She wants to work full-time, but she hasn’t been able to work the way she would like. She does what is best for her kids – be at home when needed.

Moving to Lima five years ago, from Michigan, she has no family nearby that she can turn to for assistance. She’s raising her kids the best she knows how. She gets them where they need to be and provides them with the essentials — food, clothing, shelter and love.

Lakeisha just wants a nice Christmas for her children. There are services for the younger kids but the older kids are not included because of their age; they fall through the cracks. Lakeisha shared the lists for her younger children but seemed to feel that Santa may not deliver at her address this year.

The 15 year-old wants a hat and gloves, Uno cards, some stuff for her skin, some books, a sweater and LED lights. Her daughter wants a laptop, Hello Kitty plushy doll, Roblox cards and headphones.

Lakeisha, facing adversity during this holiday season, has found within herself a greater capacity to cope than she had imagined. She holds out hope that her situation will improve and that she and her family will have a nice Christmas and that next year will bring stability to their family.

The Adopt a Stocking Fund benefits families during the holiday season. Monetary donations can be given online at give.salvationarmy.org/stocking or via Adopt A Stocking; c/o The Salvation Army; P.O. Box 234, Lima, OH 45801. All material donations for a specific family should be dropped off at the Salvation Army, 614 E. Market St., Lima, and should include a copy of the article or the date the story appeared in The Lima News. See past stories at LimaOhio.com/tag/stocking.

Reach Dean Brown at 567-242-0409

Dean Brown
Dean Brown joined The Lima News in 2022 as a reporter. Prior to The Lima News, Brown was an English teacher in Allen County for 38 years, with stops at Perry, Shawnee, Spencerville and Heir Force Community School. So they figured he could throw a few sentences together about education and business in the area. An award-winning photographer, Brown likes watching old black and white movies, his dog, his wife and kids, and the four grandkids - not necessarily in that order. Reach him at [email protected] or 567-242-0409.