COMMUNITY They were going to grant me supervised visits with my ex-mother-in-law who isn’t even related to my kids you know because she had my granddaughter, but I told the court no, “I’m not walking out of this courthouse until my children walk out with me.” You can put a restriction on me that I can’t be around anyone else’s kids but my kids? No. We ended up winning and my kids came home right before Christmas. That was the best feeling ever. I was able to walk my son to school and reenact his first day of school. It was the little things I missed, like conferences, I always attended conferences for my kids. I missed those. My kids are doing so much better now that they are at home. That four months hurt me. Many people say to me you won, but I ask did I really win? People still think I’m a child abuser and a lot of people don’t know that when you are charged criminally, you still have to fight DHS on another level, so they put me on the registry after they did their 21-day investigation, how they founded me a child abuser, I don’t know. There burden of proof is less than the state. The one thing I never wanted to be labeled as was a child abuser. It’s just crazy to me. I’ve got a trial coming up on that. I’ve had several different jobs, and I’ve talked to people who have been wrongly accused and they give up they don’t have money or a lawyer, when you go through this, they don’t give you a lawyer. I had a lawyer for what I just went through, but I don’t have a lawyer for the DHS thing this month, I’m representing myself. Most people have told me since, that they would have given up on the criminal part. Through the process, I had court canceled 6-7 times and each week like a week or a couple days before, they would postpone, and at one time I had a lawyer quit. There were days I got frustrated, but not one time during this was I ever going to plead guilty. I was taking it all the way to court. Some family, friends, and lawyers had told me to take the plea deal so I could get it over with and be charged with a misdemeanor. I was like, “no I’m not.” Never. My lawyer had said to me, “you know they put innocent people in jail.” I said yes, I know that, and I knew I would take that chance of being that one in Mitchellville because I was never taking a plea deal. I knew I was innocent. They wanted me to do jail time if I took this to court and I knew that was a chance I was taking. I didn’t want to be away from my kids, but I wasn’t going to admit to something I didn’t do. What’s Next for you? I say I want to bring MAV (Mothers Against Violence) back and then I say I will rebrand. I just take it one day at a time. I know I will continue this fight with DHS first because people are ready for me to get back out there to do events, but when I was doing events that was money I used when I was doing daycare. I don’t have money like that anymore. I’m barely making it, but even if I did have the money, I don’t want to have an event being on the child abuse registry. think that looks too good. I don’t I felt like a lot of people turned their back on me. I think I had to go through this because I trusted a lot of people before this happened. I thought a lot of people were my friends, even all the families I helped. I have only seen one family stand up for me. I don’t think they should pay me back, but at least stand up and say that’s not the Calvetta we know. They all knew me. I know if I do start MAV back or anything, I’m a lot smarter now I know now, maybe God did this. I go back and ask myself, was I not humble enough when I got the grant? was I cocky? Did I come off like I was better than others? I helped 56 people in the first year of the grant with MAV. I felt like I was doing a good job, the Attorney General’s office said I was doing a good job. I wondered why God took everything from me. He gave me everything and then took it back. I was thinking what did I do? I go back and forth with my own self. There must be something positive that comes out after everything I went through. Maybe somebody will hear my story especially women who have lost their kids. I know I have a different fight in me when it comes to people taking kids. There is a feeling of helplessness and that no one is there for you. The courts don’t help you and you don’t have money for lawyers. I also now think of people who are wrongly accused, and you just mess up that person’s whole life. My lawyer told me I could possibly get this expunged in 100 days, and I’m thinking possibly? April 2019 The URBAN EXPERIENCE 39
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