Wish List: One mom, eight kids and a need for school supplies

A whirlwind of laughter, shrieks, childish glee and budding teenage angst surround Ebony Brown as she wipes away tears.

The 30-year-old single mother and her eight children have nowhere else to go, so they’ve crowded into the Welcome House women’s shelter the past four months.

 “It’s somewhere to lay your head at,” Brown said. “It motivates you to do the things you want to do for kids, like provide a home, getting a job and making a better future for your kids. Being here this long has been a big help. They’ve helped me out so much here.”

Brown and her children, like so many other families in Greater Cincinnati, need your help this Christmas season. They are counting on Enquirer and Cincinnati.com readers to donate what they can to support the Wish List, the annual holiday fundraising drive coordinated with the United Way of Greater Cincinnati.

Readers may donate to the Wish List through a coupon in the newspaper or online at www.uwgc.org/wishlist.

At the shelter, Brown's 8-year-old daughter Kayla slams down a puzzle game on the table in front of her, the force of the action jostling the toy’s colorful blocks over equally colorful wires. Clutching her 10-month-old son in her lap, Brown tells Kayla the game will have to wait. Her 3-year-old son falls down and starts bellowing.

In contrast to the chaos, her first born, 12-year-old Breanna, sits at the table reading a poem she wrote on her iPhone.

“I feel that sometimes the passing days and every time I wake up, I hope for something new,” Breanna reads hesitantly.

The family needs help until Brown can get back on her feet. She’s hopeful. She started a new job this month at a nursing home in Fort Thomas.

But the Brown family is running out of clothes. They need furniture for a new home they hope to have soon. They need school supplies, like tablets.

“They need coats,” Brown said. “Their tablets would help with school work.”

Raising eight children by herself made it impossible to hold the factory job packaging various products in her native Detroit. The hours were too long, too late. She moved to Newport a year ago to her sister’s place. But housing eight children wasn’t easy, and the Browns had to leave. They found the Welcome House. But the large family takes up a lot of the space at the shelter. She hopes to have a place of her own soon.

“I don’t care if it was a three-bedroom,” Brown said. “My girls said they would share rooms. They wouldn’t care. That’s all they want. Something they can call home.” 

How to give

The Enquirer proudly promotes the annual Wish List fundraising effort in conjunction with the United Way of Greater Cincinnati. We know how caring and giving our readers are, and the Wish List presents each of you with the opportunity to dig down and find it in your hearts to lend a helping hand.

• To provide support for families and the nonprofit agencies that work with them, just visit  www.uwgc.org/wishlist.

• Can’t find the dollars to give this time around? No problem, you can give in other ways. For instance, find a nonprofit organization you can assist through volunteering. One place to look is the United Way's Volunteer Connection at www.uwgc.org/volunteer/ways-to-volunteer.

• Or, simply share this Wish List story on your Facebook or Twitter page to bring it to the attention of more potential helping hands. Doing this will help your own network of family and friends recognize the very real needs in our community -- needs each of us can help address.