Single mom with multiple medical challenges assisted by Season of Sharing
There is a place Kayla Yenna returns to in her mind, a place of safety and love she can conjure when the worries weigh her down, when the fear of a death sentence hangs over her head.
That safe place was where she spent summers in her childhood.
Born and raised in the North Port-Englewood area, Yenna and her little brother got to head north for Michigan each year when school let out.
That’s where her father’s parents lived on a farm. Yenna remembers running through the pastoral beauty there – marveling at how people ate what they grew from the land. What captivated her most of all was the tranquility – an escape from the trauma of her father’s temper.
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“It was a whole other world,” she recalls of those childhood summers.
Shaping that world was her doting grandmother – she and Yenna’s grandfather lovebirds since they were teens.
Yenna aspired to be like her grandmother, who was a nurse, always seeming to be taking care of everyone, at work and inside the family.
But after high school and giving birth to daughter Ashlyn in 2010 at age 20, Yenna gravitated to the service industry to pay the bills. The birth of her second daughter, Charlotte, followed five years later.
As a single mother through her twenties, Yenna worked her way up to managerial jobs – at service stations and Subway sandwich shops.
It was another way of taking care of people, and where she learned the power behind words.
“It can make a world of difference in just being positive,” Yenna said. She loved the impact she could make on customers, how a kind word or gesture could elicit a smile or change their demeanor. “What you say matters – ‘You look beautiful today,’ or ‘How was your day?’ You connect with people.”
For about six months she had a job more in line with her grandmother’s profession, in home health care, helping to manage the office and take care of patients.
Through the years at her various jobs, the hours were long and pay not always great, but she never asked for help from anyone other than her mother, who was also her closest friend.
Then in 2019, Yenna began to feel a strange pain in her hands and feet. At first, she thought it might be signs of diabetes. Given life’s hectic pace, for years she had been eating fast food and quick meals. She had little time to exercise, no longer running with abandon like the young girl she was on her grandparents’ farm.
But when the pain persisted, she went to see doctors for tests. The results sent her reeling.
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At age 29, with two young daughters to care for, Yenna was diagnosed with bone cancer.
At first Yenna spiraled into a depression, staggering under the meaning of this new reality, the anxiety and stress also taking a toll on her health.
“It feels like a death sentence,” Yenna said of being told she had cancer, apologizing as she stopped to wipe the tears welling in her eyes.
Making matters worse, she felt, was the impact on her daughters.
During the pandemic, she had to be hospitalized for two weeks for a procedure – unable to have visitors or see her girls due to COVID-19 protocols.
Afterward, she went back to work, at a job as a delivery driver for a dental laboratory.
Meanwhile, doctors told her she needed to slow her pace and manage her stress.
“I don’t know how to do that,” she said laughing and crying at the same time. “Being a single mom, I don’t know how to slow down.”
Still, as the shock wore off, Yenna was coming to a reckoning with her life.
“That’s when I realized I needed a lifestyle change,” she said.
She began throwing herself into health research, staying proactive not only for herself, but also to be strong for her girls, now 11 and 6.
She made major changes in the family’s diet, for herself and for the kids, seeking out local produce markets for fresh fruits and vegetables. She started walking more and practicing yoga and meditation.
A new boyfriend has been an important source of support, knowledge and inspiration, having gone through health challenges and changes himself.
“He’s given me a whole other outlook and perspective,” she said.
The positive words of encouragement she once gave to customers she now directs to herself.
“I can beat this. I’m not alone anymore. I don’t have to do it alone,” she told herself.
She had routine blood work done every three months and underwent infusions of iron and steroids to boost her immune system.
Some days were a struggle. But she was getting a new handle on her life.
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But then this past fall, a new pain set in. This time in her knee. At first doctors told her it could be arthritis. On their advice, she tried losing more weight to see if that would help. It didn’t.
Then in November, after more tests, another dire discovery: a cystic mass in her femur bone. Doctors ordered a bone marrow biopsy to determine the stage of the cancerous mass and the best line of treatment.
Wrangling with her insurance and specialists’ schedules in Gainesville, she got the earliest appointment possible for the biopsy: in mid-February.
Heading into December, with the pain at times excruciating and spreading from her leg to her tailbone, Yenna felt her world, already fragile, coming apart.
“Everything is just overwhelming,” she said. “It’s just scary.”
Due to the pain, she couldn’t work like she had before.
Once again, doctors told her to slow down, manage her stress and focus on her health.
Trying to stay proactive, she filed for emergency disability, told that it would take three months to come through.
But after paying December’s rent and leaving a boss she considered family, she didn’t know how she would pay her bills in the time that remained.
She’d never once turned to agencies for assistance.
“I felt like I would be a burden asking for help,” she said.
But she also feared losing her housing for herself and the girls. Her landlord was kind and helpful, keeping her monthly rent at $1,100 for their small, two-bedroom house while she knew that neighbors paid much more. If she lost this housing amid skyrocketing rents, she didn’t know what she would do.
Eventually, she was referred to Family Promise of South Sarasota County, which stepped in to bridge the gap ahead of disability insurance.
Using $1,800 from Season of Sharing and $1,500 from Family Promise funds, the nonprofit covered her rent for January, February and March.
“I think that is the beauty of what both Season of Sharing and Family Promise stand for,” said Shannon Nordquist, formerly an Open Doors Family Service Coordinator at Family Promise and now a development associate.
“We are able to help families that normally can sustain themselves but are experiencing a hardship at a time that requires their focus,” Nordquist said. And for Yenna, she added, her focus, thanks to this assistance, can now return to what’s most important – her health and her daughters.
When Yenna got the call from Nordquist with the news, she pulled her car off to the side of the road, unable to stop crying.
“I cried for hours,” she said. “I forgot how kind people could be. It’s been amazing. I’m so grateful.”
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Ahead of Christmas, Toys for Tots helped with donated gifts for the girls – a skateboard and a bike, just what they asked for.
“I was very blessed this season,” she said.
She is determined to stay positive. Some days are tougher than others, with the constant referrals from one doctor to the next, the long drives to Gainesville, the lack of answers so far. At her side she has her mother – her advocate and rock.
More than anything, there is always one thing on her mind: her girls.
When the pain is particularly bad, she tells them: “Mommy is having a hard day today. I need to lie down.”
They bring her pillows, snacks and a heating pad. Ashlyn, the oldest, rubs her back.
“I’m so thankful, but at the same time it breaks my heart,” Yenna said.
Harder still is when they sometimes ask her if she’s going to the hospital. She sees the fear behind the question, and she tries to put on a strong face.
“They watch me struggle, and I never wanted them to see me struggle,” she said. She tries to reassure them.
“It’s not their job. It’s their job to be kids.”
For the holidays, she took them to Michigan, to the farm, to visit her grandmother, who is now 80 – still caring for everyone and cooking Christmas dinner.
Turning 32 in January, Yenna dreams of having a place just like it someday – a small, peaceful piece of land where she and the girls can grow their own food.
She’ll get there, she knows. After this fight is behind her.
“I keep telling myself this is just a chapter in my book,” she said. “And my story is not over yet.”
How to help
Season of Sharing was created 21 years ago as a partnership between the Herald-Tribune and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County to get emergency funds to individuals and families on the brink of homelessness in Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and DeSoto counties. There are no administrative fees and no red tape – every dollar donated goes to families in need to help with rental assistance, utility bills, child care and other expenses.
Donations to Season of Sharing may be made online at cfsarasota.org/donors/support-season-of-sharing, or by sending a check (payable to the Community Foundation of Sarasota County) to Attn. Season of Sharing, 2635 Fruitville Road, Sarasota, FL 34237. Contact the foundation at 941-955-3000 for more information or to request a credit card form. All donations are tax-deductible.
This story comes from a partnership between the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. Saundra Amrhein covers the Season of Sharing campaign, along with issues surrounding housing, utilities, child care and transportation in the area. She can be reached at samrhein@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: North Port family facing medical crisis helped by Season of Sharing
