Renee — Unbreakable Spirit
When you've been through hell, it’s important to glance over your shoulder — to acknowledge how far you’ve come while still shaping the road ahead. But recovery from trauma is rarely linear. It’s a process full of unexpected detours — a double-edged sword that reveals new challenges even as you move toward healing. This is Renee’s process. The embodiment of robustness and defiance needed to find success again and — ultimately — the negotiation of a route through life that transcends traditional views of accomplishments.
Renee never imagined she’d find herself sleeping in her car; She was a successful business owner, a dedicated mother, and an active leader in her community. At one point, she served on church committees and was preparing to open a nonprofit. “I wanted to find a way to help families get assistance,” she explains. “It’s relatively easy for individuals to get assistance, but it’s really hard for families.”
Renee, with her ambition and selflessness, dedicated herself to solving a problem she hadn’t yet lived herself. Yet, despite her foresight and success, life quickly reminded her how little separates stability from hardship. Her story reveals just how fragile the safety nets around us can be.
Her world began to unravel when she lost two loved ones within a short period: her best friend and her grandmother. “I started getting sick, my grandmother started getting sick and passed away. I couldn’t do it anymore,” she shares. “I had eight kids and was pregnant with my ninth. I stayed because of the children, and I literally had nothing else. That was my life.”
Renee’s love for her children has always been at the core of her decisions. Her sacrifices often came at great personal cost, but she never hesitated. “You do what you have to do to take care of your family,” she says. “It’s a simple truth, but one that’s hard to comprehend unless you’ve faced similar choices.”
The weight of loss and responsibility took its toll, compounded by a series of tragedies that left her physically and emotionally shattered. “I got hit by an F350 truck,” Renee recalls. “It was a hit-and-run. I blacked out for a while, and when I woke up, no one was around. I just got up and walked to the hospital.”
Through every blow, Renee’s resilience held firm. Still, her struggles deepened. “We found friends’ and family members’ houses to stay at for a while. There was one house we stayed in, but it got burnt down. Around the same time, I got into a car accident and had to go to the hospital,” she shares. “We stayed at a hotel for a while—just one room. Can you imagine all of us fitting in one room? There’s more families than you might think in a similar situation, trying to find a place to stay.”
“When you’re struggling to even feed yourself, imagine the extra barrier of having kids. I knew other people dealing with that too,” Renee says.
For a brief time, she moved back into her mother’s tiny home. “She didn’t tell me there were already three families staying there, but we had nowhere else to go,” she says. “Shelters can’t take someone who has nine kids.”
Her physical health added another layer of difficulty. “I get seizures too, and I had service dogs to help if I started to get a seizure,” she explains. “But someone broke into my car and stole my service dogs. Someone was touching on my kids. I felt like I had no control over my life.”
How do you stay strong when it constantly feels like the world is falling apart? Renee’s answer is simple: you keep going, even when it feels impossible. “God has always been first in my life and my kids next,” she says. “Right now, I’m still trying to work on me after that.”
Her turning point came when she connected with St. Patrick Center.
“After our car broke down, we were literally down to nothing. I talked to my case manager and told them we didn’t have a car anymore. I was not ready to take my kids back to my mom’s house because that was a bad situation,” she recalls. “One of my case managers told me, smiling, ‘You got picked.’ I couldn’t believe it. The feeling is surreal—the feeling of being able to tell your kids, ‘We’re going home.’”
Now, with a home and the unwavering support of her new partner, who has stood by her through every challenge, Renee is slowly rebuilding. “He’s been with me every step of the way,” she says. “We’ve gone through so much, but we’re stronger because of it.”
But even stability doesn’t erase the daily struggles. “I only get one check a month because I can’t work, and it’s all gone in the first week because, you know, I have nine kids and have bills to pay,” she shares. “I sat with my son and told him, ‘You’re going to have your own bills to pay, and you need to save up.’ I want them to have financial stability so they don’t end up in the same situation I did.”
Renee’s story is a reminder of how far selflessness can take a person, even as it sometimes becomes a burden. She still dreams of building a better future. “I told my son, ‘You should take that check and get yourself some school clothes.’ That hurts because I want to be the one to get them for him. There’s still struggle, and I have to be very careful about my money.”
Reflecting on her journey, Renee holds onto the importance of community. “I feel like everyone’s focused on money,” she says. “Once upon a time, it wasn’t about that. It was about making sure you have the necessities in life. I remember a time we had neighborhood potlucks, stuff like that. Your neighborhood, your community, whoever you’re with—you took care of each other.”
Her case managers remain a source of support and encouragement. “They’re my lifeboat,” she says. “I seriously don’t know what would’ve happened without them.”
And in the end, Renee’s resilience shines brighter than any afflictions she’s endured. “I tell people life is going to happen,” she says. “So when you get to a situation where you know you’re going to need help, that first step is being able to ask people for help. A lot of people don’t get that.”
“My story is just one of many,” she says. “But I hope it reminds people that even when life knocks you down, you can rise again. With help, and with determination, there’s always a way forward.”
