Diary of a Family: A Story of Hope

For one week, Fox 5 gave a video camera to Ebony Roscoe. After she abruptly left a problematic marriage, Ebony found herself without a job, without a home and raising four children alone.

When she gave us the camera back, we found within her tape recordings a story of hope for thousands of families in our area facing homelessness.

"I never really use the term to them as being, ‘Hey, you're homeless. You're in a transitional program.’ So, they don't know and they don't understand."

Ebony Roscoe, a college graduate, is homeless and raising four children: 8-year-old daughter Nyele; 6-year-old twin boys Jaylen and Jaheim; and 3-year-old Semaj.

"I cried all the time because my biggest question was, ‘Why me? Why me, why me?’" Ebony said.

Ebony and her family found temporary housing provided by Community of Hope.

“They don’t pay rent,” says Community of Hope’s Kelly Sweeney-McShane. "They can focus on the things that they need to focus on."

Days are spent doing normal things-- getting tired kids to wake up, finishing homework.

During a quiet moment, Nyele takes the camera and says, "My day was happy because I did my homework and I learned how to do my subtracting."

During their turn with the camera, the twins sit around the kitchen table to explain, "This is dinner time and we're eating chicken tacos."

The camera also catches kids being kids, with a crying Semaj crossing through the frame as Ebony warns, "Y’all better stop fighting."

But their normal also includes cleaning for weekly inspections and going to therapy.

“It’s about 7 o’clock,” Ebony tells the camera as she starts cooking dinner. “You can tell its a little quiet.”

That's because the kids are in after-school classes. They learn choreography to Michael Jackson songs during dance class. Nyele is making her own dollhouse in art class.

Pointing to a small brown cardboard box, she points inside and explains, “It's going to be a living room and the TV is going to be right here."

Ebony tries to hide the daily struggles from her kids.

“I try to put so much positive in their life." But she admits, "Sometimes, I want to throw my hands up and just kinda give in and give up."

But tomorrow will be one of the biggest days of the year, at least for the twins.

“This is the last day being five!” They exclaim. “Woo hoo.”

Ebony puts the camera on the floor as she and all four kids gather in a circle around piles of candy and party bags.

“Tomorrow is Jaheim and Jaylen’s birthday, so we’re going to stuff their birthday bags,” Ebony explains.

She quickly tells the kids to “take two of those bubble gums out” because every penny counts.

"I had to plan this at least a month in advance.” Ebony says it took that long to save enough money for the bags and a small party.

Money normally used for transportation and laundry, prompting Ebony to ask herself, "Am I going to separate these clothes to somehow hang so they'll dry instead of putting them in the dryer?"

You can hear Ebony signing “Happy Birthday” to the boys as she carries the camera. “Make a wish!”

Later, after it’s all over, she sits alone and tells the camera, “Thank God I was able to see another day.”

But she’s sits down in front of the camera again to explain what she heard from a neighbor the next day. "There was some guy out that was robbing people at gunpoint," she says.

Fearful to let the kids wait at the bus stop, Ebony uses her precious savings to find money for the Metro instead.

“I’m afraid, a little,” she says.

But the kids continue with their lives unaware of their mother’s fears.

“I try to control my emotions around them,” she says. “They’re happy. They’re not on the street.”

The camera catches Ebony asking her 3-year-old daughter, “How did you feel today?”

Semaj answers, “I feel happy.”

Later, Ebony says, "I just explain to them we're here. We're not going to be here forever. When we transition it will be in our house."

She says he hopes to get a job, hopefully working with children, and a house of her own.

But for now, she says she’s “just not giving up. Keep pushing forward.”

And just before she goes to bed, Nyele says goodbye to the camera by telling everyone, “Thank you for listening.”

 

TO WATCH MORE VIDEO OF THE KIDS ON HALLOWEEN, CLICK ON THE WEB-EXCLUSIVE VIDEO EXTRA WE'VE POSTED BELOW:

• The “Help the Homeless” Walk is planned for this weekend in Washington, DC. If you want to participate, CLICK HERE.
   
• If you want to learn more about Community of Hope, CLICK HERE.