Nyyokokie was born and raised here in Atlanta, GA in 1960. She remembers her mother as a hard-working women who had great strength and faith. Her father was an Army veteran who was often at home. She was raised with a much older brother. Unfortunately, when she was in 7th grade, her brother, who was a husband and father, was a victim of a robbery and was murdered. This impacted her family greatly and caused her mother and father to remain very protective of her as she grew up.
She was able to graduate from high school and attend Atlanta Technical College for HVAC/construction. She started her own construction business after proving to homeowners that she had the ability and skills to succeed in home improvements and construction. She was successful as a business owner for many years.
Unfortunately in 2010, her mother got ill and broke her hip. Nyyokokie moved in with her mother and focused much of her time and energy taking care of her mother and raising her children for 4 years. When her mother died in 2014, Nyyokokie was taken by surprise when she realized the house was foreclosed and she lost the house in 2014.
From 2014-2018, Nyyokokie was able to find a house to rent and began struggling to find construction jobs and other employment. The economy was slow at this time. With no work, she was unable to continue to afford rent, her children were beginning to get into trouble, and she was beginning to feel overwhelmed. She lost her rental house in 2018 and moved in with a family friend for a few months. There she started her prayer line and this continues to sustain her during this troubling season in her life. She decided to move into a hotel with her youngest son in 2018. She was in the hotel for almost 2 years when she contacted Frontline Housing Inc’s Motel to Home program. With the help of Frontline, Nyyokokie was able to move into an apartment and join a community building program at the complex.
Nyyokokie states that the biggest struggles she faced on the road to stability were a slow economy in the 2010s and emotional struggles due to her mother’s illness and her children. She is looking forward to starting her construction business again now that she has stability. She also works as a Tax preparer during the tax season.
Nyyokokie describes her life now as full of grace and blessed. She is a woman of great faith and praises God for this opportunity. She wants others who find themselves in times of struggle to keep their faith and trust in God.
