A home for the holidays

CINCINNATI - The sound of a baby’s laughter echoes through the dining room where Charles and Christie Burnett eat their dinner.

They just moved to Cincinnati from Alabama with their 8-month old baby, Christopher.

It's been a long journey and it all started eight years ago in Mississippi.

“We were high school sweethearts… I was about 14, he was 15. And he kind of followed me around a lot,” Christie laughed, looking at her husband.

“I was gonna marry this girl. It kind of hit me real quick when I actually proposed and asked her to marry me. She said ‘yes’ and we went to the courthouse and got married,” said Charles, 22.

They married in 2010. Charles laughed remembering, “I cried like a baby.”

This year, Christopher joined their family.

“He kind of came sudden, but you know, we’re not mad at him. We’re kind of glad,” laughed the 21-year-old mother.    

At the time, she was in her third year as a nursing major at University of North Alabama.

Relying on Charles' income, Christie put school on hold to stay at home with Christopher.

“I was going to get my bachelor’s degree. But I kind of got an unexpected pregnancy, so I just decided to take a semester off. I plan on trying to get back in college sometime soon.”

But they weren't prepared for what happened next.

"They laid him off right before the holidays. And jobs that do that, they kind of like, crushes the whole family," remembered Christie.

Losing their sole income in October, the young family became homeless.

“That's my Christmas wish, to support both of them,” said Charles, who said he felt like he'd failed his family.

It's Christopher's first Christmas... although, he's too young to understand yet what this Christmas means to his family.

"This is his first Christmas, so it's more than everything for us to make sure that he has the experience just like any other kid would have.”

Christie wanted him to have the experience she had growing up —waking up Christmas morning in his own home and opening presents under the Christmas tree.

They decided to move to Cincinnati a few weeks ago, to be closer to Charles’ family. Also, Christie figured they might get a leg up on getting a job, and a home, easier in a big city rather than a small town in Alabama.

After moving to the Queen City, the weather started to get cold—living out of her car with an 8-month-old was not an option.

“Our car is a little bit older. I’ve got a ’90 Honda Accord, so when it gets cold, it gets cold—and my heat is not really working right now, so we knew we had to do something.”

No matter what, they stuck together.

“We would even go and hang out in Walmart, you know just for the sake of us all being together and being warm.”

Almost immediately, they went to the Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN)—a group, including 93 churches throughout Cincinnati, dedicated to helping approximately 100 homeless families every year to get back on their feet.

“They are just a very sweet, young couple who are starting out with their new baby and fell on some hard times and just needed a little bit of help,” said Georgine Getty, executive director of IHN.

Charles, Christie and Christopher stayed at an area church for a week while they searched for an apartment with the help of their IHN case manager. That first apartment fell through. Christie remembered it was like being a kid on Christmas morning, excited to get to the Christmas tree, where underneath the gifts are in abundance… only to learn there are no presents under the tree. They were heartbroken, but they kept going.

They relied on the church for shelter, food and warmth for another week while they continued looking for a home in time for Christmas.

Then, it happened. They found another apartment.

The network helped secure their home, with the deposit and three months rent paid, so Charles can look for a job—another process the network assists with.

“Part of the plan is to make sure that they’re working with their case manager to work on identifying housing and figuring out a way that they’re going to continue to pay for it,” said Getty.

They settled into their two-bedroom apartment just one week before Christmas.

Their IHN case worker and IHN family who adopted them, brought some much-needed household necessities on Monday, and a much-needed Christmas necessity... Christopher's first Christmas tree.

“Now it’s starting to feel like Christmas,” said Christie, who wanted nothing more for Christmas, than this for her son.

"We just really wanted to make sure that this young couple was in their home and in their own home so when Santa comes in the morning, he knows which house to go to," said Getty.

And while they don't have a lot of furniture or any lamps… it's their home—their Christmas wish granted.    

"Feels good. Home sweet home,” said Christie. “Couldn't have a better Christmas gift.”

"It's going to be a real good Christmas,” Charles said as he looked across the bed the entire family sat on in their living room and giggled,