Christmas wish comes true for Detroit mother recovering from near fatal accident
(CBS DETROIT) - She feared she would never walk again.
"I was literally bed bound. I couldn't lift my head on my own. I had to learn how to balance again."
But for Dejanae Guest, her recovery from a near fatal accident in July was not at the forefront of her mind, providing for her kids was.
"I was working two jobs. Everything was fine for us. Bills were paid up. Everything was good and in a blink of an eye, times were hard, back to no job, lights turned off a few times," Guest says.
Guest says her recent string of bad luck left her to choose between paying the bills or buying gifts for her two children this Christmas.
However, thanks to Volunteers of America's Adopt A Family Program, Guest did not have to make that choice.
"I didn't do anything that solved her problems. I haven't changed her life. But what I did do is create a bridge that allowed her to have some normalcy in her life," Volunteer Coordinator Kim Salama says.
In 2017, Guest says she became a teen mom when she gave birth to her first daughter. Struggling to find a way to provide for her child, she turned to Volunteers of America for help.
"It makes me feel good to know that, you know, we're a support for somebody and that somebody isn't feeling alone," Salama says.
Fast forward to 2022, Guest's wish to give her kids the ultimate Christmas was granted.
"My family was adopted this year and it's definitely helped me and my family a lot. It's done wonders to me to just provide the household needs that I wasn't able to get on my own, the books and the just the nice things that I know that a child should not miss on as growing up," Guest said.
Thankfully for her, Guest says her family was adopted by General Motors, a surprise that left her in tears.
"Bringing that smile to my daughter's face and just making her happy and her not knowing how hard it is because she is just a child, they brought that (to her)," Guest says.
And while Guest and her family will have a Christmas full of presents under the tree, Salama says there are still plenty of other families waiting for their wish to come true too.
"A lot of these families, they know if they don't have a sponsor, their kids are not going to be able to open anything," Salama says.
The deadline to sponsor a family for this year's Adopt A Family Program is Wednesday, Dec. 21.
To apply for assistance, become a sponsor, or donate to Volunteers of America, click here.