Dana Cruse vividly remembers the first time Jenna Aubuchont walked into her pre-K class in Colorado. Jenna's mother kissed her on the forehead and told her she loved her. The 4-year-old remained silent.
For the next eight weeks, Dana became infatuated with Jenna as she followed the little girl around the classroom. Dana was simply drawn to the clever, goofy, and joyful little girl.
Jenna is also nonverbal and on the autism spectrum. She doesn't communicate with everyone, but her teacher Dana was an exception.
Dana was so thrilled with Jenna's progress in class that she reached out to her mom, Bethany — and that's when the heartbreaking truth was revealed.
Bethany had been living with Jenna and her two other young daughters in Texas. When Jenna was diagnosed with autism, Bethany stopped working to support her. It was around this time that the girls' father became addicted to drugs, lost his job, and was incarcerated. In an effort to protect her daughters and give them the best life possible, Bethany took Jenna, Emma, and Kenna to Colorado. Her friends there promised to help her financially, but just weeks after arriving in Colorado, her friends backed out of their support. The family of four was suddenly left homeless.
"Each day, they line up at the homeless shelter at 3:30 p.m.," Dana says. "Sometimes they get in and sometimes they are left to sleep in the car. From their nights at the shelter, the three girls' heads have been infested with lice, time and time again. Bethany is desperate to begin working full-time, but her hours are limited when she has to line up at the shelter every afternoon and keep her daughters home from school when they have lice."
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Despite their situation, Bethany makes sure to bring her daughters to church every Sunday. "Bethany is one of the most loving mothers in the world and will do anything for her daughters," Dana says.
This story first appeared on LittleThings in November 2018.
Two months after Dana first met Jenna in her classroom, this amazing preschool teacher devised a very special plan.
Watch the video to find out more.
