Meet Our Moms: Ishia - Mama of 6
We know the work that we do at Tender is important. But it’s hard to truly gauge the power and impact of uplifting a mother in need until you speak to a mama like Ishia. It goes beyond simply providing financial assistance. The positive impact of empowering moms like Ishia ripples out to their families, and even further, into their communities.
Ishia is a loving mama who gets so much joy out of cooking. In fact, the only thing she might love more than cooking is her six children. She’s loved feeding folks since she was a little girl, she says.
“I love to cook, ever since I was a child,” Ishia says, “since I was 8 years old. And I love to work hard and earn my living. I’m a good person. I’ll help anybody. I just try to enjoy life, as well as taking care of my family in the process.”
Unfortunately, when you’re worried about your children’s safety because your apartment needs repairs, or when you’re living with profound levels of stress because you’re behind on utility bills, you don’t have the privilege of focusing on those things you love, the things that bring you joy because you’re living in survival mode.
“We had water pipes busting, just a lot of things inside of this house was—we could live here, but there were things here that could hurt my babies.”
Ishia was also wracked with worry about where the rent for the month would come from, how to pay her utility bills, and so sought out any resources that might available to help her family. A lawyer she was working with introduced Ishia to Tender, and within just days, she was able to get the critical aid she needed.
“It was so easy that I didn’t believe it was true!” she says. “I was like, ‘is this real? Are they serious?’ You got back to me within 48 hours—and that was the longest. I’m just beyond words.”
Says Ishia, “It truly impacted me—I’m almost in tears right now because I didn’t know how I was going to make it, or where [help] was going to come from. That help and that support, it just gave me the motivation, and it gave me hope. It made me more relaxed so I didn’t have to worry, and so I could focus on my children and their virtual learning.”
Tender provided Ishia with rent and bill pay assistance, and was also able to deliver Pull-Ups for her daughter—and this aid gave Ishia room to breathe so she could better focus on taking care of her children and applying for work.
“It wasn’t just about the rent,” she says. “It was another month being comfortable, of not having to worry.”
The deep relief that comes with knowing you and your children get to stay in your home, that those children will have the essential items they need, that “feeling of being comfortable that you can go and get what you need for your family instead of wondering where it’s gonna come from,” says Ishia, “it’s very important. And Tender’s there.”
We are here for our mamas, for their families, and for our community. And we are thankful to be able to help such incredible, hard-working, loving mothers like Ishia. It truly takes a village, and Tender is so grateful to now be a part of hers.