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November 25, 2006

Women ‘graduate’ to new lives from Sankofa House for Women

By Courtney Anderson

SHARON — It’s been a year of new beginnings for Teresa Kitt.

Clean and sober after 28 years in and out of jail, the 48-year-old is busy raising her feisty granddaughter, keeping her life on track and working to help other women overcome their pasts for a brighter tomorrow.

“It’s been a long road for me,” Ms. Kitt said as she prepared to be honored as one of the first graduates of the Sankofa House for Women in Sharon.

The transitional house for female offenders offers support and connects women with resources to help them live as contributing members of the community. The staff aims to provide a “firm foundation” through unconditional love and does not pass judgment.

“Tonight is a testament that sisterhood truly is powerful,” Sankofa House board member Marcia Moyer said at a ceremony this week in the Forum at Penn State Shenango.

Sankofa House founder and director Lynda Moss-McDougall said Ms. Kitt is a prime example of what the program is designed to do.

Ms. Kitt owes much of her success, she said, to Sankofa House and the people who live, work and volunteer there.

“At Sankofa House, they opened up a whole new world to me,” said Ms. Kitt, who struggled with drug addiction. “They taught me how to live a normal life.”

She voted for the first time this year. She discovered a calling to help others. And she’s found comfort and guidance through her church family at New and Living Way Apostolic Church in Farrell.

“God is really opening some doors for me,” said Ms. Kitt, noting that she had to learn to love herself so she could be there for her children and grandchildren.

Ms. Kitt, Brenda Thorpe and Melony Culver are the first “beautiful Sankofa House divas,” as Ms. Moss-McDougall put it, to complete the program and move out on their own. That’s when the “real work” begins, she said.

And it’s time to exercise the meaning of the word “sankofa,” said Ms. Moss-McDougall. They must reach back and help someone else.

“I am very proud of these ladies,” said Ms. Moss-McDougall. “They made me cry, but they’re happy tears.”

“It’s been a very challenging journey for them, but they were up for the challenge,” she said. “They came into the house with their minds made up.”

One thing that drove Ms. Kitt was wanting to take care of her family – something she said she wasn’t always able to do, which made her feel guilty.

With the support of people like her daughter Ilinda, her friend Debbie Caszatt and granddaughter Taija Paige, Ms. Kitt is doing that.

And it makes her proud.

“I’m ecstatic,” Ms. Kitt said about graduating from the program. She moved out of the Sankofa House in July after seven months.

Once she’s been on her own for a year, as the program requires, Ms. Kitt said she wants to go back and work at Sankofa House. Her relationship with Ms. Moss-McDougall, whom she called her mentor and “spiritual mother,” inspires her.

“If I help one person, that’d make me feel good,” Ms. Kitt said, adding that she’d hope that person would continue the cycle.

She’s already doing that by setting an example for Taija, 13, who lives with her. Taija said her grandma helps her stay focused on her school work and keeps her laughing.

“I’m proud of her because she did good and encouraged people to stop doing drugs,” Taija said. “She’s helping other people and she’s a great example for me.”

And Ms. Kitt has apparently done a good job communicating her love for Taija, who, when asked, says her grandmother is proud of her, too. There’s no “hoping” or “thinking” she’s proud — Taija knows.

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