Compelling Path, True Help, and a ‘Why’ Drives Morris
Gary Newman
The Ashland Beacon
Many people can arrive at the same place at the same time, but it’s not the destination that makes someone’s story compelling, but rather it’s how far they had to travel to arrive there. Shyann Morris demonstrates that when a dream is planted, encouraged, and allowed to grow, it’s going to be a testimony that others can’t wait to hear.
Shyann grew up in Jackson, Ohio with parents who were both drug addicts, and a life cycle that found her pregnant at 14, with a daughter at 15, and still in school. She went to vocational school, got her phlebotomy license, and CNA certification, but when her dad passed away in 2010, and her mom moved to eastern Kentucky. After graduating, she’d met a man and they moved to be with her mom. When she first got here, she utilized food stamps, ktap, and other resources to help provide for her daughter. While living in the Bruce Apartments, she met Mike Maynard, executive director of the Hillcrest-Bruce Mission.
“After I got settled here, I ended up meeting Mike Maynard and he’s probably the reason that I’m where I’m at,” Shyann recalled. “He ended up getting me into college, but I didn’t know I wanted to do nursing. I didn’t really have the financial stability to do that.”
Maynard was able to help her get into the HUD program and get into a house, where she was able to stay until she graduated nursing school. “Diamond Lewis and Wes Thompson, and the Hillcrest Bruce mission helped me get scholarship money and made sure all the distraction that could keep you from achieving your dreams weren’t able to overcome me,” Morris added. “It was a long process,” referring to the situation she’d come from, without real stability or support.
During nursing school, students were asked to define their ’why’. “My daughter drove me. My Dad. Even though he was an addict, he was functional and he always made sure I had what I needed,” Morris reflects, “I promised myself one way or another I would make him and my daughter proud. I just kept thinking about that and telling myself that. That was my why.”
Since graduating nursing school as an LPN in 2020, and working at Ultimate Treatment Center, a drug addiction facility she feels like she’s back where she started, “but it feels like it’s where I’m supposed to be. I feel like I can help people.” She defines the feeling of helping others very rewarding.
Recently, she completed the purchase of her own home.
Looking back, there’s a thankfulness to those who’ve helped along the way, but she’s impacted them, too.
“Most folks we meet want better for themselves and their families. They don't want a handout that will only sustain them temporarily, they want a hand-up to help them become self-sufficient. A lot of people, agencies and organizations must pour into folks like Shyann. Sometimes that means Academic Advice, Money Management, Scholarships, Grants, Vehicle, Housing, Advice, Listening, etc,” Mike Maynard of Hillcrest-Bruce Mission elaborated. “This is what we must do as a community — find those folks who want to help themselves and are willing to put in the work to do whatever it takes to become successful. We found that in Shyann. She was in the first cohort of Work Placements when we started the program and you could tell right away she had the why, she just needed help with the how, She worked HARD — working at the Mission and then at the College, taking care of her family, going to school and helping others. We are so proud of Shyann and what she's been able to accomplish already. Her path was hard and had many barriers. But, she didn't quit and kept working it because she knew how it would end — a better life for her and her family.”
Her daughter, Faith, was impacted by her story, too. She characterizes Morris as a great mom who worked hard to get where she is, and recognized the payoff of the hard work, and bill paying to secure the house. “It’s amazing,” Faith stated.
Looking back, Shyann would impart this advice on her younger self, “It’s not OK to settle until you’re happy,” and further explains why her story is so compelling, “because of how I grew up and where I came from to where I am now.”