After taking in her nephews, Bradenton aunt helped by Season of Sharing

Before this fall, Dawn Ritchie enjoyed the happy life of a single, professional woman.

The 56-year-old divorcee lived in downtown Bradenton, a short walk to parks, nightlife and the beauty of the Riverwalk.

The rent for her one-bedroom unit was $2,100 a month – something she could easily afford on a medical assistant’s salary of more than $75,000 a year.

With her four daughters raised and grown, Dawn had no one to clean up after for the first time in her life. Her biggest decisions each week revolved around dinner plans and line dancing with her friends.

“It felt absolutely wonderful,” she said. “I did whatever I wanted to do.”

Then in early October – the very day she came back to her apartment after evacuating from Hurricane Milton – she got a knock on her door.

Standing there were state child protective agents. 

And behind them were her two nephews, ages 8 and 5 – picked up after their mother’s arrest.

“Aunt Dawn!” came the squealing cry of 8-year-old Joel, bringing tears to Dawn’s eyes.

“When I tell you that my life was completely turned upside down,” she said, “I’m not kidding.”

“Can I really do this?”

Dawn had taken in other people’s children before, namely – while she was still married – three of her grandchildren for a time.

Supporting people is a family affair.

Dawn’s mother was a nurse – inspiring Dawn’s own choice to enter the medical profession in her 20s, studying nursing at first before switching to medical assistant positions between two battles with cancer, marriage and raising children.

Dawn’s mom also looked out for the extended family – helping with Joey and Joel in her house when they were small. Then as her mom’s health declined, Dawn cared for her until she passed away two years ago.

The state child welfare workers told Dawn that the boys whom she and her mother both adored had been living in a hotel before their mother was arrested. Their father – Dawn’s brother – was incapacitated after a stroke. They had nowhere to go.

“I never thought twice about it,” Dawn said of taking them in.

Within days, she was overwhelmed.

While the boys slept on air mattresses in the living room of her one-bedroom apartment, Dawn searched for a bigger place, finding two-bedroom apartments going for upwards of $3,000 a month.

Meanwhile, her quest to find an appropriate school for 5-year-old Joey – a special-needs nonverbal child diagnosed with autism – quickly became a full-time job.

“Can I really do this?” she thought, doubting her ability to care for the kids.

Weeks of unpaid leave from work turned into nearly a month – until her employers told her they had to let her go. What’s more, by November, her apartment management threatened eviction over the boys.

Her savings exhausted, Dawn panicked. She never had to ask for help before and didn’t know where to go to find it.

“I was going crazy,” she said, thinking, “There’s no way.”

But she had three days to be out of the apartment. She couldn’t give up.

“My mother would never forgive me if I ever let anything happen to these boys,” she said. “I wouldn’t forgive myself.”

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All hands on deck

In desperation, and upon referral from a friend, Dawn went to visit Mothers Helping Mothers, a nonprofit made up of volunteers who serve Sarasota and Manatee county families in an emergency – by providing basic necessities, classes and partnerships with local agencies.

“I was a basket of nerves and crying,” she remembered.

Joey was with her and having a behavioral upset episode. While one of the other volunteers helped soothe him, Donna Love, the nonprofit’s client resource director, picked up the phone and made some calls.

“It was like all hands on deck,” Dawn said.

A contact with North Manatee Realty had the perfect place for Dawn, the boys, and one of Dawn’s daughters who had agreed to move in with them: a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house in Palmetto for $2,300 a month.

But there was a catch: between first month’s rent, fees and a security deposit, it would cost twice that amount just to get through the door.

“My heart dropped and I wanted to throw up,” Dawn said. “I started crying again.”

A new normal

Love reached out to the nonprofit Turning Points to help process an application on Dawn’s behalf for Season of Sharing.

In the end, Season of Sharing paid $2,000 toward November’s rent, while Bridge A Life paid another $1,000, and Mothers Helping Mothers supplied $2,000 to help cover the rest and the security deposit – with a little left over to help with December’s rent, too.

Dawn, her daughter and the boys moved into the apartment in early November. By then, she had found a wonderful elementary school for Joey with a program to match his needs.

Help your neighbors in need: Donate to Season of Sharing

Joel got to stay in his same school – something Dawn insisted upon to provide him stability through so much change.

What’s more, volunteers, friends, a local church, and the Azinger Family Compassion Center in Palmetto came together to help with school supplies, furniture and to outfit the apartment with beds for the boys, toys and a Christmas tree. Someone bought a bike for Joel.

“It’s crazy the people out there willing to help,” Dawn said. “I’m overly blessed from all these agencies. They made Christmas for these kids, that’s for sure. There’s no way I could have done it alone.”

She wished more information on available assistance was readily accessible for families in situations like hers.

“There are just so many people nowadays that are raising their family’s children,” she said.

Nationwide, more than 2.6 million children are being raised by a grandparent, other relative or close family friend, studies show.

Experts say the trend is on the rise in part due to the impacts of the pandemic but also due to substance abuse and the opioid epidemic.

In Florida alone, about 214,000 children are being raised by a relative without a parent present, according to grandfamilies.org.

“If it weren’t for the assistance of Miss Donna, I would have been in big trouble,” Dawn said.

To Love, though it was clear from the start that Dawn was navigating “an overwhelming situation,” equally obvious was “her strength and determination to care for her nephews.”

Despite Dawn’s awareness and concerns about the challenges ahead, she remains positive and resilient, Love added.

“Dawn always finds a way to refocus, embrace hope and forge ahead with determination and love for Joey and Joel,” she said.

In the days before Christmas, Dawn was preparing for a job interview in her field as a medical assistant.

She has learned to let go of her previous carefree life – and thoughts of retiring anytime soon. She is not sure what her “new normal” will look like.

But she is committed to the boys for the long haul, having been granted custody and now exploring adoption.

“I chose to make sure these boys have a good life, and I’m going to do whatever I can,” she said.

That includes providing them a stable, loving home, starting this holiday season.

“It’s going to be a very Merry Christmas,” she said, fighting back tears. “It’s going to be a great New Year.”

How to help

Season of Sharing, a program administered by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, assists individuals and families in an emergency with rent, mortgage, transportation, utility and childcare expenses in Sarasota, Manatee, DeSoto and Charlotte counties.

You can donate to Season of Sharing by going to cfsarasota.org or calling 941-556-2399. You can also mail a check to Season of Sharing, Community Foundation of Sarasota County, 2635 Fruitville Road, Sarasota, FL 34237.

This story comes from a partnership between the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. Saundra Amrhein covers the Season of Sharing campaign, along with issues surrounding housing, utilities, child care and transportation in the area. She can be reached at samrhein@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Bradenton aunt helped by Season of Sharing after taking in her nephews

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