Mom’s Redemption Reunites Family
Michelle Martinez is living proof that it’s never too late to find redemption.
She grew up surrounded by violence and crime. She was addicted to crack. She served prison time. She was diagnosed with mental health issues. She had her children taken away.
But at age 31, after the birth of her youngest daughter Dulce~Yana, Michelle made a decision to start over. She wanted to reclaim her life and everything she had lost because of her mistakes of the past.
State officials, concerned about Michelle’s history of drug use, debated whether her new daughter would be safe. They eventually decided to allow Michelle to keep her baby, but only if she accepted help from Boys Town South Florida’s In-Home Family ServicesSM program.
During a 10-week intervention with Boys Town Family Consultant Lucia Stanfield, Michelle did everything she was asked to do. She entered a recovery program, got clean and has remained drug free. With Boys Town’s help, she got a job and an apartment, and received the psychiatric services she needed. Most miraculously, she regained custody of her two older daughters, Angelica and Alicia, who had been taken away from her years earlier.
“The family’s strengths are the true love and commitment they have for each other,” Lucia said. “To go through all the legal hoops to get two children back after her (parental) rights were terminated by the state is close to impossible. It takes dedication, persistence and prayer for a miracle to do what she did. This mom was not rehabilitated; she was transformed.”
Using the skills, resources and support Lucia brought to the family, Michelle today is enjoying her new life and raising her three daughters. She is grateful for Boys Town South Florida’s help, and for the woman who guided her back to being a good mom.
“Lucia went above and beyond,” Michelle said. “She took me to appointments, made sure I was okay and let me know that if I ever needed anyone to talk to, she was a phone call away.”
Lucia said watching Michelle change her life was inspirational. She called what Michelle accomplished a “rarity.”
“It was a long hard road,” said Lucia. “She went from literally losing everything to getting it almost all back. I am so very proud of the tremendous change that she has made for herself and for her children. She is proof that the impossible is possible; sometimes it just takes longer.”
In Boys Town In-Home Family ServicesSM, trained Family Consultants work with families that are struggling to stay together or are in crisis. In many cases, a family is in danger of having a child removed from the home. Consultants help parents improve their parenting skills by providing teaching and guidance. Family members learn how to create a safe, nurturing home for children, and how to access resources in the community to help them solve problems on their own. Consultants work with families right in their own homes, and are on call 24/7 to provide support and assistance.