CHNY News Desk: Where Are They Now?

Where Are They Now?: Camela

Achieving success often comes from hard work and sacrifice. Obstacles often arise that challenge us and make us stronger. Camela knows this very well. The stability and security Camela now has comes from years of struggling within broken homes and broken families.

Camela was born in New York to parents that were already separated. She was one of four children including her twin sister. Her two younger siblings had a different biological father. She and her siblings lived with her mother, never knowing her father.

Camela never experienced a stable family life while growing up. Her mother, unprepared to take care of four children, physically abused Camela and the others as means of disciplining the children. Child services, being informed of the situation, took Camela and her siblings away from their mother when she was about seven years old. They were placed in foster care, which unfortunately separated Camela and her twin sister from their two younger siblings. It was a painful time for her because she was very close to them.

Camela was in the foster care system for three years. Camela had only her sister to look to for emotional support during that time and while in foster care, Camela’s mother past away. Her mother’s death deeply affected her. After her mother’s passing, Camela and her twin sister were released to an aunt who lived in Savannah, Georgia while their younger siblings moved in with their biological father in New York.

The new living situation in Georgia was not an easy transition. Camela and her sister, still coping with the loss of their mother, were in a completely different environment and had a difficult time adjusting. Camela and her aunt came from two different religious beliefs causing ongoing conflict. Her aunt was a Jehovah’s Witness while Camela and her sister were Baptists. Differences such as this caused Camela’s twin to be moved back to New York to live with another relative. Camela, now separated from all of her siblings, became emotionally detached causing her to run away on several occasions. Her aunt came to realize the deep connection Camela had with her sister and promised that she would send Camela up to her twin if she no longer ran away.

When Camela was thirteen she was reunited with her twin sister in New York after a year of separation. It was at this time that they were also reunited with their younger siblings. Even though Camela had reunited with her family, her living conditions remained unpredictable. Her aunt in New York was not prepared to take in two children. When this aunt decided she needed a longer house and moved out of New York, Camela and her sister decided not to accompany her. They were left in the care of an alcoholic uncle who soon got them evicted from their apartment. Camela was forced to move in with another relative. It was there that she met a boy and became pregnant at the age of fourteen. Things turned from bad to worse, as Camela and her boyfriend’s mother did not get along. A combination of dropping out of high school and the harsh home environment forced Camela to seek out Covenant House New York.

Camela used the Mother/Child Program and was pointed to an organization called New York Foundling, which assists young pregnant women. It was there that Camela gave birth to the love of her life, Fabujea Frazier in 1990. As a young and inexperienced mother, Camela needed help more than ever. Fabujea’s father was uninvolved, as he had become incarcerated prior to her birth. Camela found help in the Louise Wise program. The program gave her a new direction. While in the program Camela continued her education and earned her GED. She knew that she would eventually need to start helping herself and that obtaining a GED was a step in the right direction. After two years in Louise Wise, she and Fabujea moved in with Camela’s stepfather. Ongoing conflict with him forced her to leave the house and return to Covenant House in 1994.

Camela entered the Rights of Passage program at nineteen. She found the services offered at Covenant House very helpful. It was there that she received aid with childcare, budgeting, and life skills. According to Camela, Covenant House “gave me the guidance that I needed.” She felt that Covenant House helped her find a goal in life and a way to achieve it. Rights of Passage also helped her receive training in clerical work and childcare.

She was in Rights of Passage for two years before moving out to relatives in Georgia. Camela and Fabujea didn’t stay long and soon moved back to New York. They realized that Covenant House was still there to help them when Camela received assistance in getting a job at a supermarket shortly after her return. With this kind of treatment, it became clear to her that she was and would always be part of the Covenant House family.

Currently Camela works at the Young Adult Institute. She is a counselor for mentally retarded adults and enjoys helping people. In the future Camela would like to start up her own business. Her daughter Fabujea is a junior in high school and hopes to study fashion design in college. She is grateful for all that Covenant House has done and is extremely proud of her mother who struggled to make her life easier. To Fabujea, Camela is a source of inspiration but her mother believes it is the other way around. She doesn’t think she would have survived through much of the adversity she faced without the motivation of her daughter.