By John DentonDec. 20, 2014
ORLANDO – The flashpoint between all the pain and suffering that her family has endured over the past year and the sheer, unadulterated joy experienced on Saturday left LaShandra Wesley’s head in her hands.
As she watched 7-year-old daughter Addison literally hug her new pink bicycle, 16-year-old Chris and 13-year-old Anthony take turns spinning a new basketball on their fingers and 3-year-old Landon pulling at bows on a small mound of gifts, LaShandra let loose a torrent of joyful tears.
Hoping to comfort LaShandra’s release of emotions, Orlando Magic Head Coach Jacque Vaughn and players Victor Oladipo and Maurice Harkless came over for supportive hugs. LaShandra, who currently lives in an Altamonte Springs hotel, admitted that the generosity of the Magic to give her family gifts – when she fully thought there would be no presents this Christmas – overwhelmed her emotions.
“I wanted to be able to give my kids something, even something like a simple stocking, but that wasn’t going to happen this year. So for someone else like the Magic to give to us without knowing anything about me or my children, it’s more than a blessing,” LaShandra said. “I wouldn’t have even been able to buy (the kids) a stocking with candy in it this year. That bothers me, but seeing what the Magic have done for us, it’s more than I ever could have imagined.”
The Magic were able to defy the expectations of many this past weekend when they hosted 21 local families from the Seminole County “Families in Transition” Program and the Osceola County School District. The “Families in Transition” program was established in April of 2003 to serve the educational needs of children in the Seminole County school system who are homeless and in need.
The preselected families were treated to a hearty meal that Magic partner, Levy Restaurants, prepared and served in Fields Ultimate Lounge at the Amway Center. There was then an area for the children and parents to ride on a train with Magic players Ben Gordon and Elfrid Payton, make balloon animals with Evan Fournier and Dewayne Dedmon, pose at a photo booth with Nikola Vucevic and Kyle O’Quinn, meet Santa Claus and Victor Oladipo and dine on snacks such as hot chocolate, popcorn and sodas. Smiles were aplenty, and that certainly brought joy to the heart of Magic CEO Alex Martins.
“It’s incredibly heartwarming to see all of the smiles because a lot of these kids probably wouldn’t have had a Christmas this year because of their situations,” Martins said. “The fact that (Head Coach) Jacque (Vaughn) and the team wanted to do something for kids who may not have had a Christmas is heartwarming as well. It’s just a fabulous day seeing all of these smiles.”
There haven’t been many smiles over the past few months for LaShandra Wesley, her four children and grandmother, Shelia Keys. LaShandra and her family left a situation in North Carolina two years ago to move to Orlando to live with Shelia, who had a solid job as a finance manager at a local car dealership and a condominium near Universal Studios where she and the kids could watch the nightly fireworks shows from a balcony.
But when the downturn in the economy caused Shelia to lose her job, the family’s life soon spiraled out of control. Unable to find full-time work, Shelia – an exceptionally bright and well-spoken woman – lost her condo and could no longer afford to provide housing for her daughter and the four kids.
Over a period of several months, Shelia, LaShandra and the kids stayed temporarily with friends and family members. Finally, the family was forced to live out of a minivan that they would park in various fast-food lots throughout the night. They would shower at the YMCA and pray nightly that things would eventually turn around.
It all took quite the emotional toll on Shelia, a proud woman who had worked her entire life to earn her own way. For the first time in 30 years, Shelia didn’t have a job – and eventually didn’t even have housing.
“Never in my life had I experienced anything like this and it’s been an uphill battle for us because everybody wants to hire you part-time and nobody wants to give you full-time work. It takes a lot to get back up on your feet once you lose it all,” Shelia said. “We lost it all – home, cars, money. Those are things that can be replaced, but your sanity can not be replaced.
“All throughout this, I just kept asking myself, ‘What did I do? What didn’t I do? What could I have done to avoid all of this?’” Shelia continued. “My kids and grandkids came to me a couple of years ago and I never would have thought it would end up like this because I was in a nice condo. It didn’t really all hit me until we didn’t have a place to stay. It was the strangest thing in my life and I’m still in awe of all that’s happened to us. I never thought it would happen to me, but it did and it hit us hard.”
Shelia and LaShandra were recently introduced into the “Families in Transition” program, a venture that helps homeless people put their lives back together by providing housing stability. The Wesley and Keys family have been living in an Altamonte Springs hotel of late and Shelia is working a handful of part-time jobs.
Beth Davalos, the Families in Transition Coordinator for Seminole Country Schools, said that sadly the face of homelessness is becoming one of single mothers and impoverished children. She pointed out that the number of homeless children in Orange, Seminole and Osceola Counties could fill the 20,000-seat Amway Center and the number of homeless children in the state of Florida would pack the expansive Disney World.
Davalos presented Vaughn and the Magic with a painting created by one of the homeless children in the FIT program. The painting was a recreation of Picasso’s famous “Flowers in Hand” work of art – one where you can’t tell if a gift is being given or received.
“It signifies that when you give you receive and when you receive you give,” Davalos said.
The Magic have taken an active role in helping to fight Orlando’s emerging issue with homelessness whether it’s feeding approximately 750 people on Thanksgiving morning at the Coalition for the Homeless of Orlando or hosting the 21 families for this past weekend’s Christmas party. In the past four years alone, the Magic have given more than $5 million and donated hundreds of volunteer hours toward the fight of homelessness.
“Homelessness is one of the biggest problems that we’re facing in Central Florida and we are actively involved in trying to help whatever way that we can,” Martins said. “Whether it’s financially – and we’ve contributed significant dollars trying to help attack the issue – or through our volunteerism. We’ve had a long-standing relationship with the Coalition for the Homeless. And (Magic VP of Philanthropy and Multicultural Insights) Linda Landman-Gonzalez is the chair of the Central Florida Commission on Homelessness. So we’re trying to do our part to try and abolish homelessness because it is one of the biggest social issues that we’re facing.”
Like all of his teammates, standout Magic forward Tobias Harris took an active role in making sure all of the families at the holiday party had a grand time. All throughout the day, Harris sat down with several parents and listened to their stories, while also playfully “yucking” it up with the children.
“This puts life into perspective for us of how blessed we are when you hear some of the troubles that these families are going through on a daily basis,” Harris said. “You wouldn’t even know that some of these people are going through some rough stuff just by sitting down and talking to them because they are so full of joy. It’s just a blessing for us to have an impact on them and it’s important for us to do what we can. Just these two hours that we can give them to not worry about their problems, it’s a great time for the families and for us as well.’’
LaShandra and her four children certainly had a great time when a curtain dropped to reveal that each member of the family would be getting a special gift. Addison couldn’t stop smiling about the pink bike with the teal and white streamers on the handles. Teenagers Chris and Anthony let out “oohhhs” and “ahhhs” when they saw the basketball shorts and socks they got and they couldn’t wait to play video games on the tablets they received.
As for LaShandra, seeing the smiles on her kids’ faces after all that they had endured over the past 12 months, it did quite a number on her emotions. As her body started to tremble and tears streamed down her cheeks, LaShandra put her head in her hands and sobbed. But unlike so many restless nights before, these were tears of joy and near disbelief that the Magic helped this become a memorable Christmas.
“My sons tell me all the time, ‘Mom, you don’t have to cry anymore,’ and an event like this that the Magic are putting on tells me that it’s going to get better and every day is going to be better,’’ LaShandra said. “This has just been a blessing for our family. When I saw all of these gifts, I literally just wanted to scream and cry. But this time, for once, this was a good cry and not a bad cry.
“What the Magic have done truly is magical,” she added. “There’s just something about people who don’t know about the situation that you are in and don’t ask any questions and they just want to help out. Thank you, thank you, thank you to the Magic for making this a great Christmas.”
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