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<\/p>\nAdrian Cross hadn\u2019t decorated for Christmas in a decade. It wasn\u2019t worth the effort, she thought, since her kids grew up and moved out.<\/p>\n
So when her neighbor invited her to come trim the tree with her grandchildren, Cross walked over right after work.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been trying to put this together here,\u201d Ro Weathers, 59, told Cross while threading hooks into scarlet balls. \u201cGlad you could come be with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The grandkids had met Cross, 56, in February, soon after she moved into New Life Village. At the unique housing community in Tampa, children who have lost their parents or have been in foster care move in with adoptive families. And seniors living on their own move in nearby, to help.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Darrian, 13, raising money for his basketball team, had asked Cross to wash her car. His younger sister A\u2019Queen, 8, had talked to her at the pool.<\/p>\n
They introduced her to their Nana, and soon Cross became \u201cAuntie.\u201d<\/p>\n
That evening, she had promised the kids they would make cookies. And she had news \u2014 something she couldn\u2019t wait to share.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey now, don\u2019t clump them all together there,\u201d Weathers told her granddaughter, who was bunching bows near the bottom of the tree. \u201cWe still got lots of space to fill.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ornaments were strewn across the townhome living room. White lights and glittery garland wrapped around the tall tree. The children had hung a few silver balls on the lower branches.<\/p>\n
At the top, wearing a gold-trimmed gown, perched an angel.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s mommy right there,\u201d A\u2019Queen told Cross, pointing.<\/p>\n
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All of the children at New Life Village<\/a> have suffered trauma. Some were neglected or abused; others were orphaned by drugs. Many had filtered through group homes for years.<\/p>\n In 2012, a nun named Sister Claire LeBoeuf<\/a> founded the village in Hillsborough County, which has more than 1,900 kids in foster care \u2014 the most in Florida<\/a>.<\/p>\n She wanted to help them find adoptive families \u2014 and to make life easier for those new parents. She envisioned an affordable place where people taking in grandkids, family members or foster kids would become neighbors. Alongside them, she would offer low-rent housing to single seniors \u2014 and bring them together with families who need tutors, babysitters, or just another adult to lean on.<\/p>\n \u201cRaising traumatized kids is hard,\u201d said Mariah Hayden, New Life Village\u2019s executive director. \u201cWe\u2019re an intergenerational, intentional community that\u2019s here to offer support \u2014 the only concept like this in Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n The 52 townhomes were revived from a bankrupt development and house 170 residents \u2014 113 of them children. The gated property includes a playground, pool, dog park, basketball court and learning center.<\/p>\n Seniors volunteer at least four hours a month, playing cards, teaching kids to cook and garden. Counselors support families on-site.<\/p>\n Parents who have adopted kids can rent a four-bedroom townhome for $1,185 a month. Seniors lease two-bedroom apartments for $1,282. Donors, grants and government funds help keep costs low.<\/p>\n Residents are referred to the village by social workers, case managers, judges and child welfare advocates. Others learn about it through churches and friends.<\/p>\n Families can participate in art, equine and music therapy, yoga, movie nights \u2014 and, for the seniors, trips to the theater.<\/p>\n The director said, \u201cThey\u2019re donating their retirement to these kids.\u201d<\/p>\n A half-hour after Cross came over, the youngest grandson, A\u2019Kyng, 8, tore into a box of candy canes. His grandmother, busy with a garland, didn\u2019t see. But Cross did.<\/p>\n \u201cHey, hey! Those are for the tree,\u201d she told the boy. \u201cLet\u2019s work on the tree first.\u201d<\/p>\n The boy laughed and opened the candy cane anyway. \u201cDid Nana say you could have that?\u201d Cross asked.<\/p>\n She tries not to parent Weathers\u2019 grandkids, to defer to their grandmother. She asks permission to take them to Dollar General, to her church.<\/p>\n Cross\u2019s own mother had to leave her at the hospital as a newborn. A stranger adopted her. \u201cI know the importance of having a supportive adult in your life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The kids filtered into the kitchen, where Cross helped them make chocolate chip cookies. Her adult son and daughter live hours away; she doesn\u2019t have grandkids. Spending time with Weathers\u2019 grandchildren, she said, helps her feel more purposeful.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know I play football,\u201d A\u2019Kyng told Cross as he plopped dough onto a pan. \u201cI made 23 touchdowns.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWow, that\u2019s a lot!\u201d Cross said. \u201cI gotta come see a game.\u201d<\/p>\n A\u2019Kyng barely knew his mom. She died just after he turned one, while his sister was two. His two older brothers were six and nine.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir mama was the youngest of my four,\u201d Weathers said. \u201cMy baby girl. My Ashley.\u201d<\/p>\n Ashley was 29 when she died. Weathers doesn\u2019t talk about how. She took in the grandkids right away and, two years ago, they moved into New Life Village. Her daughter\u2019s portrait smiles from a shelf in the living room, beside the urn that contains her ashes.<\/p>\n \u201cI guess God wasn\u2019t done with me yet,\u201d said Weathers, who is disabled because of lupus. \u201cThese kids are the reason I keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n Raising them has been hard, she said. Having Cross close by these last few months, she said, \u201cmakes everything easier.\u201d<\/p>\n Cross taught Weathers\u2019 two youngest grandkids to swim. She drives the teenagers to the barber. Calls whenever she\u2019s heading to the store: Need anything?<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re all such open-hearted, respectful children. I knew they had a good role model,\u201d Cross said. \u201cThey, like all of us, just want to be heard and loved.\u201d<\/p>\n The tree twinkled in the corner. The kitchen smelled like cookies. Cross thanked everyone for including her in their family.<\/p>\n Next Christmas, though, she told them, she might have to get a tree of her own. For the first time in a decade, she might have someone at home to share it.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve applied to become a foster mom,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m about halfway through the process. I don\u2019t know how old a kid I want yet\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n She draped her arm around A\u2019Queen\u2019s shoulders. \u201cMaybe a girl about your age.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/ad9f8ac2b9c9225139397f6d99a26e83.jpeg\"\/)
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