Program Helps Family Start Anew After Father’s Slaying
PONTIAC — At the ripe old age of 11, Ashley Cosme had begun to have some misgivings about Santa Claus.
But Sunday, there was no doubt in Ashley’s mind when a man in a red suit arrived at her front door bearing giant sacks of presents, bags of groceries and furniture for her family.
“If I didn’t believe before, I do again,” Ashley beamed.
Ashley; her brother, Jeremy, 9; sister, Eunice, 14; and mother Eufemia stood in shock as bag after bag of toys, shoes, food and two couches made their way into their Pontiac home where the foursome has settled to start a new life after the father, Laurence, was slain in August.
Every holiday season, the Yatooma Foundation for the Kids, started by Birmingham attorney Norman Yatooma, selects a few families who have lost a parent in the last year and provides them with a holiday they can remember with joy instead of sorrow.
Yatooma, wearing a red Santa suit, white curly beard and hair with a red hat, said he vividly remembers his first holiday after his father, Manuel Yatooma, was murdered in a carjacking 20 years ago as the worst of his life, the kind he hopes no other child has to experience.
“There was an awkward attempt to fill this void,” Yatooma said of his own experience. “We are trying to create some positive memories for the kids.”
The foundation interviews families to determine their need and asks for a wish list, said foundation Executive Director Jennifer Viano.
“They had no idea it was going to be of this magnitude,” Viano said.
Viano said Ashley and Jeremy were out with their father, Laurence, in August when he was gunned down and killed in front of them. Laurence yelled for his children to run and pushed Jeremy out of the way. The two children escaped — Jeremy broke his wrist. Afterward, they were evicted from their home.
More than a dozen foundation donors and friends of Yatooma arrived at the Cosme home with packages. Prior to their arrival, the house was sparsely furnished. No couches, no dinner table and chairs, no photographs on the walls.
At first, Jeremy wouldn’t come outside or look at anyone. The first present he opened — a comforter for his bed with a wrestler on the front — filled his face with joy. Ashley found a “High School Musical” comforter for her room, saying, “This is the best Christmas ever.”
Then came the couches, the table and chairs and even a laptop computer.
Earlier in the day, Eufemia said she had prepared the children not to expect much this Christmas.
“I told them I had to pay the rent and whatever was left over we could do Christmas with,” Eufemia said, a new mattress and box spring for her room nearby.
All of the children sat on a bed near their mother, grinning ear to ear.
“All three of us got iPods,” Ashley blurted out. “Mom, we had Christmas early.”
Yatooma said the family is trying to survive on $8,000 a year. Eufemia Cosme found a part-time job as a medical biller and the family moved in the Pontiac home in November with the foundation paying their first month’s rent and security deposit.
“I haven’t seen a smile like this on the kids’ faces in a long time,” Cosme said, teary-eyed. “This is … wow. This is like winning the lottery. Thank you. This is the best Christmas ever.”
You can reach Jennifer Chambers at (248) 647-7402 or jchambers@detnews.com.
