From homeless to homeowner - Mom receives new house from daughter after years of struggle

At just 19, Rosemarie Ferguson faced an unimaginable challenge - she was pregnant and homeless, and forced to sleep under a tree with her newborn daughter.

Now, at 62, she reflects on those days as her daughter, Kadian Wallace, has achieved what once seemed impossible. Wallace is a proud homeowner who has provided her mother with a home of her own in Kingston. Ferguson recounted the early challenges of motherhood, citing that she was compelled to leave her home due to 'circumstances'. She faced immense challenges, and, while living in Clarendon, a policewoman urged her to give her baby up for adoption.

"The lady who I was staying with start to talk a lot of things bout mi can't stay there because they want somebody to help me to take the baby and I don't want to give them," she recalled. So, she soon found herself and her baby sleeping outdoors.

"I end up having to sleep under a tree with her. I sleep underneath the tree because true she little, she coulda hold under mi clothes. So mi just push her down inna mi clothes. I slept under the tree at nights until daylight until one day I went back to Mandeville," she said. But the challenges didn't end there. After a brief period in Mandeville, Ferguson struggled to feed her daughter.

"I did all kinds of stuff to feed her including taking money from a friend to keep her secret of cheating on her boyfriend," she admitted. Despite these hardships, Ferguson sought ways to support her daughter. She sold frozen drinks and even made crochet beachwear. Wallace, now 42, remembers those tough times vividly.

"I learned to hustle from my mom," she said. "We sold roasted yam and salt fish together at Melrose Hill. I would go after school, and I helped to take care of my siblings. It was tough, but it taught me to fight for what I want." Her high school years were marked by further struggles, especially in 10th and 11th grades.

"Most of the time I walked to school from Royal Flat to Bellefield High School. By 11th grade, I couldn't bear it any more," she said. With limited resources, Wallace had to make tough choices, including only being able to afford one subject--art and craft.

"[Sometimes there was] no food when we come home, no food nuh there. I remember one time we had to pick a bunch of bananas from next door without the man knowing, because we didn't have anything to eat," she said. The emotional weight of their struggles at one point overwhelmed her.

"I was sitting on the corridor and I was crying," she recalled, describing a pivotal moment when a guidance counsellor, Mr Higgins, noticed her distress. Wallace confided in him about her family's struggles. The principal Dr Folks took action, asking Wallace how much money she needed to restart her mother's business. Wallace estimated the sum to be $3,000, which was provided along with food supplies, a gesture she believes changed their lives.

"I went through the school gate and couldn't manage the bag them," Wallace laughed. "So you know that deh money turn over and over to buy baby clothes, to feed my brother and sister, and kept the business going until mom started working again. That $3,000... a it basically save wi." Years later, Wallace, who considers herself a jack of all trades - including interior design and crochet art - knew it was time to give back.

"After I got my house, I knew I couldn't feel at peace knowing she didn't have her own place," she said about her mother. "I wanted to show her that everything she did for me wasn't in vain. She deserved this." A delighted Ferguson said she was overwhelmed with gratitude when she received her house.

"This is not just a house; it's proof to how far we've come," she said.