My name is Jessica Roussey and this is my story...
Jessica, Dominick and Aveline
My favorite things about growing up were the good experiences that I had. Before I reached 5th grade, I had traveled to 21 states and lived in four of them. But not everything was joyful. In the years before age 16, I lived in an emotionally and mentally abusive household. One that tore me down, made me doubt myself and told me I must have lied about almost everything I had done.
Around age 16 I moved to China, which was both my saving grace and my downfall. I loved the experiences that I was able to have. But it allowed me more freedom than I had ever had before. Like many teenagers, I didn’t realize what a good thing I had until it was too late. Because of my freedom, I fell behind in school, so I decided to get my GED to “get ahead” of my peers and try to go to college early.
In college, I changed my degree program 3 times before ending up dropping out. That’s when I got my first job and met my eventual husband and father to my kids. From the time we first moved in together, it was a series of moving into a place, someone losing their job, and moving back in with family. When we separated, we moved back with our respective families.
This separation opened my eyes to the fact that I needed help beyond my family. My dad had volunteered for Ripple of One before and pointed me in their direction. There, I found the courage to better the lives of my children and myself. I went back to school. I created a budget and stuck to it. I worked on myself physically and mentally. I didn’t realize until I left my marriage that I was severely depressed. I thought that I had lingering postpartum depression and was medicated for that. I haven’t taken my medication in almost 2 years. I lost 20 pounds and dropped 2 dress sizes.
Now I’m going back to school, a dream that I gave up even thinking was possible after having kids. I’m working in a job that I thought was beyond my reach just because I had a GED instead of a high school diploma. The amazing staff and volunteers at Ripple helped me realize I have more potential than what I had resigned myself to. At first, Ripple can feel overwhelming. Going to all the required meetings takes up a lot of your time. But the end result makes it worth the effort it takes to make your life and Ripple match up.
To anyone who ever donated to Ripple of One: Thank you! Your monetary donations and the time and love given by the mentors and other volunteers are the heart and soul of Ripple. You are the people who make the program work for families like mine.