Mom rises up, moves on, wins award

By Tim Yovich

The single mother of four who was on drugs and alcohol and in an abusive relationship offers advice to girls.

WARREN — Laurie Henderson had hit rock bottom.

The 31-year-old had found herself homeless with four sons, jobless, addicted to alcohol and crack cocaine and in an abusive relationship where she and her children were abused by her boyfriend. That was nine months ago.

Today, Henderson is sober, has a full-time job as a cook, and is living with two of her sons at Emmanuel Care Center, a Girard facility for homeless women with children. If successful, she’ll be there for a total of two years, and she continues to straighten out her life.

Henderson was a recipient of one of three Rising Up and Moving On awards presented Wednesday at the Trumbull County Children Services’ luncheon at St. Demetrios Banquet Center.

“I was just stupid,” Henderson said of getting herself in such a bad situation. “I had low self-esteem.”

But she wanted to give girls some advice: Don’t have children at a young age — she was 17 — and stay clear of drugs and alcohol.

“I thought I was in love. I was engaged to the guy,” Henderson said of her first pregnancy.

She called on girls to be more conscious of themselves, noting they should set high standards.

Henderson was living in the Royal Mall Apartments, a government-subsidized housing complex familiar to Niles police as they are often called there because of illegal drug sales and violence.

“I never thought I would go down that path that I chose,” she commented. “I wanted to be a veterinarian.”

A man moved in with her and her children, but he became abusive.

“I was just tired of everything. I needed something better for myself and the kids,” she said of reaching her lowest level. “They were scared and wanted to be with me all of the time.”

She was being evicted and had no income.

Henderson fled her apartment to Someplace Safe, a Warren home for abused women and their children, before being placed in Emmanuel Center. She and her sons are in counseling, two of them living with relatives in Coitsville and Niles. She’s in daily contact with them, and they visit their mother and brothers.

Meanwhile, Henderson is working off her debts and wants to go to college to study business administration.

So far, she has remained sober.

During the luncheon, her sons gathered round her. The staff at Emmanuel Center and Children Services said she is very bonded to them and has learned to discipline them appropriately and how to set consistent, firm boundaries for them.

yovich@vindy.com