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"Stressin' but a Blessin'"
221
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"Stressin' but a Blessin'"
Covering:
Latin America,
USA & Canada
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© 2024 Eileen Wisniowicz
Rachel Renfro wakes Jonathan Winfield Jr., 10, and her eight other children to get them ready for the day on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024 at her home in Kennett, Mo. Renfro wakes the kids up at 6 a.m. to get them out the door in time for school.
Rachel Renfro wants to do right by her kids. “Your kids live through you,” said the 31-year-old who juggles raising nine children, working two jobs and studying for her GED. Rachel once split the duties of raising children with her husband, but after he was incarcerated she found herself in a precarious balancing act.
Rachel’s kids range in age from 2-14 years old. Five of her children have ADHD and one other has epilepsy. Rachel has goals to go onto college after graduating from the GED program and become a nursing assistant to serve as an example to her kids. Rachel’s days consist of running from place to place and keeping tabs on her kids.
Rachel leans on her family to help support her children. While at work, Rachel’s mother, Lisa, cares for the kids once they leave school by cooking dinner and keeping them entertained.
This story was worked on during the Missouri Photo Workshop 76 in Kennett.
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© 2024 Eileen Wisniowicz
Rachel Renfro walks down the hallway to check that her children are getting ready for school on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024 at her home in Kennett, Mo. “Your kids live through you,” said Renfro who uses her childhood experiences to relate to her kids.
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© 2024 Eileen Wisniowicz
Rachel Renfro sits in her living room while getting her kids ready for school. Rachel places emphasis on her kids looking presentable by fixing their hair and having them use cologne and perfumes.
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© 2024 Eileen Wisniowicz
Rachel Renfro helps her son Dalton Wallace, 6, get ready for school while she talks to her husband, Jody Renfro Sr., who is currently incarcerated in Virginia. “He be the main one to help,” Rachel said in regard to her children. “He put his foot down, but they respect him, they love him.”
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© 2024 Eileen Wisniowicz
Rachel Renfro braids her hair as she gets ready for work as a registered nursing assistant at NHC HealthCare Kennett on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024 in Kennett, Mo. Renfro said one of her proudest accomplishments was becoming a RNA because she wasn’t sure if she would pass the nursing assistant exam.
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© 2024 Eileen Wisniowicz
Rachel Renfro works on a computer during her GED class on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024 at Southeast Missouri State University’s Kennett campus in Kennett, Mo. “I’m doing it for my kids because, you know, I dropped out of school, and I don't want them to think that, you know, like they can't give you a second chance,” said Renfro.
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© 2024 Eileen Wisniowicz
Rachel Renfro, left, and Caden Tansil attend a GED class on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024 at Southeast Missouri State University’s Kennett campus in Kennett, Mo. After Renfro graduates from the program she plans to go to a local college to become a nurse practitioner.
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© 2024 Eileen Wisniowicz
Jody Renfro Jr., 2, sleeps on his grandmother Lisa Turner’s couch on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2024 at her house in Kennett, Mo. Rachel relies on her family as a support system to help care for her children, including watching them while she works and preparing dinner for them.
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© 2024 Eileen Wisniowicz
From left, Jamarieya Winfield, 11, Lisa Turner, Tamarion Hamilton, 7, Zamarieya, 11, and Jonathan Winfield Jr., 10 sit in Turner’s living room on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024 in Kennett, Mo. Renfro has lived in Kennett her whole life and has four living generations of family that live in Kennett too.
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© 2024 Eileen Wisniowicz
Rachel Renfro picks her children up from her mom’s house on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024 in Kennett, Mo. Renfro works most evenings and early nights and picks her kids up after to take them home to bed.
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© 2024 Eileen Wisniowicz
Rachel Renfro scratches Terrance Hamilton III’s, 9, head as he hugs her before bed on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024 at their home in Kennett, Mo. “It’s crazy how they just grow,” said Renfro.
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