Displaced mother reunited with infant son
Published: October 14, 2005
To New Orleans evacuee Fredricka Collins, an empty apartment never looked so good.
“Shoot, we needed this,” Collins said. “I thought we weren’t going to get lucky.”
Collins is checking out all the apartment’s amenities, making sure it’s ready for a very special arrival — her 1-month-old son, Legend. The proud new mother explained that Legend was born prematurely in New Orleans on Aug. 25, and when Katrina hit, the pair were airlifted to a hospital in Baton Rouge.
Today’s the last day little Legend has to stay in the hospital — he will finally be allowed to go home with his mother. Born weighing just over 2 pounds, the infant has been growing each day and has nearly doubled his weight in the last month.
Collins is grateful for her son’s improved condition, but she said that the experience is one she will talk about for many years to come. Once she arrived in Baton Rouge, she was one of 25 parents of hospitalized children with no place nearby to live until St. Luke’s Episcopal Church opened its doors to them, allowing them to stay in its library facility.
Collins’ struggled to get by alone, as her fiancé and her 10-year-old son were in another shelter after the storm. It was hard not having a place to call her own, but Collins said she loved spending her time with such welcoming people.
“Oh, (as) soon as I walked in the door, they greeted me,” she explained. “It was like I was home again.”
Of those parents being housed at St. Luke’s, Collins was the last person to find a permanent new home, but now she has what she needs. The church has not only helped her locate an apartment, but is also donating furniture for the young family. Now that Collins and her family finally have a place to call home, she looks forward to life together with her family, here in Baton Rouge.
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