With all the hate and misery in the world it is really nice to report on so many acts of kindness in a single community in a small town in Kentucky.
Just across the Ohio River from Cincinatti, the people of Newport, Kentucky have come together to help a local family in the most difficult of circumstances.
NEWPORT, KY (FOX19) –
On Tuesday night, the Newport Police Department received a concerned call about people living in the woods. When they responded, they found a family of five calling a make-shift tent their home.
“Obviously we couldn’t leave them staying in the woods with the kids,” Lt. Kevin Drohan said. “You open that tent and these two little faces, little kids pop up and look at you… it was just, it was heartbreaking.”
Lt. Drohan and the rest of the nightshift at the Newport police station pitched in to get Jody Kiskaden and his family a six-night stay at a local hotel. They also bought the family food to last them for a while.
“I’m grateful for all of that,” Kiskaden said. “When they come up there and got me out of there… I thought I was in trouble, you know. They said ‘no, we’re going to help you, come on, you aren’t in trouble.’”
The former tattoo artist has also spent time in jail and is now trying to provide for his family of five. The family is growing to six soon with the mom eight months pregnant.
“I actually asked Child Protective Services to open a case and just take my kids,” Kiskaden said. “I’ll do the six months, get on our feet, you know. We just need a little time.”
Kiskaden has been trying to get his license and birth certificate so he can apply for work and start to provide for his family again, but while he waits, he still makes sure all of his kids make it to school on time.
With no alarm clock, Kiskaden wakes up and gets the kids off to school.
“We’re really trying to do things right. We’re both sober, both just doing what we can. I mean, we sit in the school all day until 3:30 p.m. every day, and we make sure our kids go to school,” Kiskaden said. “[We] make sure they got clothes on their back.”
The mother of the children, Kayla, has been going to the Quik Tax Service office for years, and employees there said she has worked hard to provide for her kids and was working.
“She’s been coming in for years. She was down on her luck and she’s a mother of three with one on the way. The first day they came in was two weeks ago, and it was three in the afternoon and she hadn’t eaten yet, and she’s due in six weeks,” employee Stacy Cook said.
The family said all the shelters in the area are full for the winter and they can’t find anywhere to stay together as a family.
The Newport Police Department is setting up a charitable account at a bank in the area so people who want to donate can to help find the family and those small children a home.
FOX19 NOW will update this story once that information is made available.
