SAN ANTONIO – Nearly one year ago, Jesse Espitia lost his sister and gained a responsibility he never imagined.
He became a father to her three children.
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Jeanette Espitia, 33, was killed Aug. 25 after being struck by a vehicle while crossing Southeast Military Drive near Old Corpus Christi Highway. She had just stepped off a city bus after buying diapers and was walking with her 1-year-old daughter.
Jeanette was also pregnant and just weeks away from giving birth.
She and her unborn son died. Her young daughter survived.
For Jesse, life changed overnight.
“It’s been challenging,” Jesse said. “I don’t have kids on my own, and to take the responsibility of three kids is a lot. You know, it’s not easy, but I’m up for the challenge.”
Today, Jesse is raising 11-year-old Jakob, 5-year-old Jaelynn and 2-year-old Jenna in a small one-bedroom apartment on San Antonio’s Southeast Side. All three children sleep in the living area near the kitchen while Jesse works to provide what he can.
“I’m doing my best,” he said. “It’s not perfect, but I am trying my best.”
The physical challenges are only part of what this family has endured.
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Jesse says the children still have nights when grief takes over.
“They have the little episodes where they cry at night, especially when they want their mom,” he said. “When they get a cut on their foot, when they fall outside … they wish it was Mom here.”
Jesse is grieving, too.
Inside the apartment is a shrine honoring the family members he has lost, including his mother, father, brother, Jeanette and the unborn nephew he never had the chance to meet.
“That’s all the family I have,” Jesse said. “That’s what keeps my spirits going. Keeps the kids’ spirit going.”
But during the most difficult year of his life, Jesse discovered family can also be found right next door.
His neighbor, Susan Herrera, began helping Jesse when he was struggling financially.
Jesse says Herrera paid three months of his rent, more than $2,000, when the family was facing possible eviction. She has also driven Jesse and the children to stores and school because he doesn’t have a vehicle, helped with the kids and simply sat with him when he needed someone to talk to.
“It gave me an opportunity to stay here,” Jesse said. “I was on the verge of eviction, and she was there to help me.”
Herrera works as a cook at a South Side convent and credits her Christian faith for compelling her to help the family.
“It broke my heart,” Herrera said of Jeanette’s death. “He’s left to be the caregiver with no warning, no means, no anything, and he’s done such a great job.”
Jesse wanted Herrera to know her kindness had not gone unnoticed.
So he reached out to FOX SA’s Cash for Kindness.
Herrera believed she was simply stopping by Jesse’s apartment to talk. Instead, she walked inside to find FOX SA waiting.
“Susan, thank you for always being there for us,” Jesse told her. “This past year has been real tough, really, really tough for me. And you being there for us means the world.”
Herrera’s response was simple.
“You know I love you guys.”
FOX SA then surprised Herrera with a $1,000 Cash for Kindness award, made possible by DJC Law.
Herrera was stunned.
“Oh my gosh! I don’t know what to say,” she said. “God is good. God is good. God is good. That’s all I can say.”
But perhaps the most revealing moment came when Herrera was asked what she planned to do with the money.
“It’s going to help me help them.”
Jesse had nominated Herrera because he wanted, for once, to give something back to the woman who had spent the past year giving to his family.
Instead, even her reward is coming back to them.
Nearly one year after three children lost their mother and an uncle suddenly became their father, the neighbor who helped keep a roof over their heads is still giving.
Because sometimes, the family that carries you through your darkest days is the family you find right next door.
Click here to nomination someone you know for the $1,000 Cash for Kindness prize.