75-year-old widow raising 3 grandchildren and caring for adult daughter needs your help

Mimose Martial loves to fill her Miami Shores home with music. Every day, she serenades her grandchildren — 3-year-old Yahwe, and 2-year-old twins Yeshousa and Samson — with Creole and French songs.

“Cha, cha, cha!” the three toddlers chant back at their grandmother.

Martial, a 75-year-old widow, has been the full-time guardian of the three boys, all her incarcerated son’s children, for a little over a year. Her days revolve around preparing food for them, grooming them, playing with them, and taking care of them.

“They make me happy. They say ‘Mommy, Mommy, I love you’ and come kiss me,” Martial said, laughing. Martial is also the full-time caretaker of her 32-year-old daughter Marie, who has Down syndrome and is a wheelchair user.

Wilna Similien, a social worker at the North Miami Foundation for Senior Citizens, emphasized the patience that Martial has with the toddlers, who love to climb her arms and legs. Similien admires how the young children listen to their grandmother, and how they quickly put away their toys when she asks them to.

“She’s an amazing woman… People like her should be honored every day,” said Similien.

Martial’s grandchildren and daughter bring her joy every day. She’s always loved children, she said, and helped raise her family’s little ones.

But it is challenging for Martial to cover all of the family’s costs. Her fixed Social Security income goes strictly toward their living costs. It’s currently too expensive for her to move out of her long-time rental, which is in need of repairs. The rent went up to $2,200, from $1,500, she said.

“They say it will go up again and I don’t know what I’m going to do,” said Martial, who hopes Wish Book readers can help her find an affordable four-bedroom home where she can raise the children and take care of Marie.

Food stamps and other social assistance programs help her pay for food and other basic needs. One of her sons helps pay for expenses. The money still does not stretch as far as it needs to go. Assistance with diapers, toddlers’ shoes in size 8 and 10, toddlers’ clothes in size 3T and 4T, and a wheelchair ramp for Marie would go a long way to support the cheerful grandmother. Finding stable transportation and childcare are also priorities for Martial.

“You can only imagine someone of her age, worried about her health but also the caregiver of four people, also in need,” said Similien.

Similien also told the Herald that Martial think about everyone’s needs but her own, and would benefit from a spa day where she can get her hair and nails done.

“I don’t think those thoughts come to her head. She deserves it,” said Similien.

Martial came to the U.S. from Port-au-Prince in the early 1980s. Her siblings still live on the island, and recently became homeless after gangs set fire to their mother’s home, she said. She worked as a nursing assistant before her husband passed away in 2007. She became her daughter’s full-time caregiver in his absence.

When the toddlers came into her home their demeanor was serious. Now, they play and laugh like other children their age, said Martial. But she worries about where they will go the day she is no longer around.

“Every day I tell God, ‘Don’t let anything happen to me for the kids. Give me strength.’ Every day,” said Martial

For now, Martial is relishing the everyday memories with her family. She has witnessed Yahwe, Samson, and Yeshousa’s first steps, baby teeth, and first words. They babble in the background all day long. They love children’s YouTube channel Cocomelon, smoothies with banana and milk, and the Christmas tree.

“They warm up the house,” said Martial.

HOW TO HELP

To help this Wish Book nominee and more than 100 others who are in need this year:

▪ To donate, use the coupon found in the newspaper or pay securely online through www.MiamiHerald.com/wishbook

▪ For more information, call 305-376-2906 or email Wishbook@MiamiHerald.com

▪ The most requested items are often laptops and tablets for school, furniture, and accessible vans

▪ Read all Wish Book stories on www.MiamiHerald.com/wishbook

Staff photographer Alie Skowronski contributed to this story.

This story was originally published December 24, 2024 at 5:15 AM.