The call came from the hospital three years ago.

Denea Hall was asked by a case worker to take care of her newborn nephew Tommie and his four-year-old sister Trinity. Making the situation even harder, Tommie was born addicted to drugs because his mother used while pregnant.

“I already had two children of my own and was having medical challenges, but I went with my heart,” Denea said. Tommie went through a withdrawal program and Denea began to make a loving home for all of her children.

Denea’s oldest daughter Chadeya had been enrolled in one of Children’s Home Society of Washington’s early learning programs. Chadeya, now 10, is doing very well in school. Denea knew a similar program would benefit Tommie.
 
She enrolled Tommie in the Early Head Start home visiting program at the South King County Family Resource Center in Kent. In the program, parents learn from a home visitor about how to boost their child’s development through fun and play activities.
 
Thanks to support from the program, Denea has been Tommie’s first teacher, reading to him often and teaching him the ABCs. Tommie has shown tremendous progress and will start preschool at the same level as his peers this September.
 
“The program has helped him so much,” Denea said. “I have seen how far he has come since he joined. Children’s Home Society was one of the best decisions I have made for him.”