JANICE BROWN: No Ordinary Aunt
Janice
Brown's weekends were a hullabaloo of children, her own
and her sisters'. Monday through Friday, she was an
accountant at Marsh & McLennan. But when Saturday
rolled around, she was off to the zoo, the skating rink
or the movies with her 11-year-old son, Justin Johnson;
three nephews, ages 6, 3 and 1; and a 4-year-old
niece.
But Ms. Brown, 34, was not a run-of-the- mill aunt.
One nephew, 3-year-old Kyle, had lived with Ms. Brown, a
single mother, since he was an infant. Kyle's mother,
Dawn, 23, was unable to care for her children, so two
live in Flatbush with their grandmother, Juanita Lewis,
and the third, Kyle, lives nearby with Ms. Brown.
Janice Brown's sister Tameshia, 24, said that Ms.
Brown had stepped into the breach, initially agreeing to
take Kyle for a year, after Dawn had already given
custody of her oldest to her mother. But, according to
Tameshia, Dawn was still a a street person so Ms. Brown
took the boy permanently. Ms. Brown spelled her mother,
who was also taking care of a third grandchild, every
weekend. Last summer, along with Tameshia, she took the
whole brood to Disney World, paying for the trip and
giving her mother a few days of peace and quiet.
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