My Story

I created Crisis Academic Athletic Haven in memory of my late son Christian Anthony Ahmund Hines. On February 16, 2019, I found him deceased on my living room floor. As I stared at him for what seems like an hour, his life flashed before me. As I stood there, the vision came to me, and I said I must build a center in his memory to help our children and their families.

I had Chris and his sister at an early age and was a single parent, but I had tremendous help from my family and friends. The three of us were very close. I raised them with morals and values and taught them to respect others. For both, their first jobs as teenagers were at a retirement community; I wanted them to learn to serve others and to gain a sense of compassion and empathy. My children were my priority over all things.

Christian got in trouble at the age of sixteen and went to a juvenile detention center for four years. The three of us had NEVER been separated. To hear that sentence hurt so bad that I couldn’t cry. Fast forward to him coming home at the age of twenty; he was not my baby anymore, and he now had the added responsibility for a child of his own. Over time because of his actions, his suppressing of hurt, pain, guilt, loneliness, disconnection from his family, and confusion, he developed anger and depression.

His loving heart now had what seemed like a steel wall of protection around it to help him get through his challenging times.

Christian later developed a drug addiction. It was a battle trying to get him treatment because his addiction wasn’t an opioid. My husband and I tried so hard to get him help, but there were none available. Praise God for praying mothers and grandmothers and after a lot of praying, communicating, and listening to him without any judgment, he decided he wanted to turn himself in for a probation violation and get ready to turn his life around.

After three months in county jail and six months in prison, my husband and I picked him up on September 15, 2018. Every single day for the next five months, he and I were together, but on February 15, 2019, he was going out – the first time that we would be separated. On my way home, I felt a strong wave of fear in my spirit, and I started to cry. My husband asked what was wrong, and I answered him, saying I didn’t feel right with Christian going out because his best interest wasn’t at heart. I told my husband the only reason I wasn’t calling him to come home is that I didn’t want him to feel I didn’t trust him.

I stayed awake until he got home, and I let him in; we told each other we loved one another, and I went to bed. The following day when I woke up, I heard his voice in the spirit say, “My daughter isn’t going to see me alive anymore!” I didn’t think anything of it because I had let him in the night before. I came downstairs, and there he lay. From that day forward, my mission has been to inspire young people to be the best they can be.

I’m not the only mother who has lost a child, nor will I be the last, but I still believe the children are our future. My prayer is that through Crisis Haven, we can create a place where youth and adults can seek help, guidance, and self-development without fear or judgment.