Family forced to leave Mississippi finds a new life in
Gilroy
By Erin Cooper, Special to the Dispatch
Gilroy – When Wesley Jackson, his fiancée and 10-month-old daughter fled the hurricane ravaged Gulf Coast, they had no idea they’d wind up in Gilroy then experience the generosity of so many.
First there was South County Housing, which found a place for them to live. Then there were the members Girl Scout Troop 1389, who donated Christmas gifts to the family. Finally, there was a family they met who invited them to Christmas.
“This is more than Christmas for us, this is making us feel like home … and home was taken away from us,” said Jackson as the three opened gifts delivered by the girls. “We couldn’t stay there anymore; the whole roof from the baby’s room was gone.”
When Jackson, fiancée Jade Reedus, and their baby Natalie fled the south they did so with only a card board box of their belongings. They lost all of Natalie’s baby pictures, her baby book, ultra sound video, everything. With Christmas two days away, the family has moved across the country with little to show of their former life.
The family moved to Gilroy three weeks ago from Mississippi, where they had been staying with his mother.
The transition was hard, stressful, and didn’t last long. Once the two ran out of money his mother practically kicked them out, leaving them with no other option then to fly back here to San Jose where Reedus is from.
“As soon as our federal emergency money ran out, from helping her pay the rent the four months we were living there, she kicked us out with the baby,” said Jackson. “We had no where to go, no buildings, no hotels, no nothing, so we were faced with being homeless with this child.”
With not many options the couple returned to San Jose. They got in contact with South County Housing and from that moment on things seemed to fall into place for the family.
“As soon as we got here South County took care of us,” Jackson said. “We got food, cash to help us out, this place is unbelievable.”
Two others who fled the south have moved to South County since the hurricane struck in August. Alton Chalk and Diane McInnis both now live in Gilroy in apartments provided by South County Housing.
Gilroy is the perfect small town the family had been looking for. Jackson grew up in a small town in Alabama and said that he loved Gilroy because it was small, comfortable, and less intimidating then bigger cities. The move itself was not easy on them, but the South County Housing really helped, he said.
“Ending up in Gilroy was all Gods work,” said Jackson. “We will never go back to the south again.”
After acquiring an apartment with the help of South County Housing, the three were adopted by the Girl Scout troop. The girls decided to help the hurricane victims themselves, asking their troop leader if they could adopt them this Christmas. They picked out and wrapped the presents, which included toys for the baby, a baby blanket, cooking utensils, a coffee pot, socks, and a foot spa.
Nine-year-old Girl Scout Anna Macedo and her fellow scouts were beaming as they watched the family open their gifts.
“It was really fun shopping because they gave us a shopping list of things they wanted. We went to Target and picked them out ourselves,” said Jessica Chizanskos. “I would love to do something like that again.”
Jackson, Reedus, and Natalie plan on spending Christmas this year at a friend’s house they met the first day they moved here. The family has even made Natalie her own stocking which they have carefully hung.
“We never really had a Christmas in Mississippi,” Reedus said. “This year we are going to enjoy it, we are going to sit in our apartment and look up at our beautiful ceiling that doesn’t have holes everywhere.”
