Cincinnati mother unexpectedly lost 2 children in 2 years | Wish List
The Enquirer and United Way of Greater Cincinnati have joined forces for the 37th year to help families in need with the Wish List program. After wishes are granted, remaining funds assist people with similar needs throughout the year. This is the last of eight stories.
A little over two years ago, Trissa Green had reason to be optimistic.
She was about to start a customer service job with a bank. She envisioned her income, combined with the earnings of her 22-year-old son Takir, making it possible for her family to move out of Winton Terrace, one of Cincinnati’s oldest public housing projects.
What happened instead is a story of extraordinary heartache, of optimism turning to anguish.
On Nov. 6, 2021, Takir was home after completing shifts at his two jobs. He fell ill, showing symptoms of what family members thought was the flu. His girlfriend took him to a hospital, and within hours he was dead. His death certificate said he died of natural causes.
Takir, the father of a 2-year-old, had no life insurance. Trissa said she depleted her savings paying for her son’s funeral.
Going to work after that was difficult, but “I knew I had to keep moving,” Trissa said, “because I had nothing. We were living in poverty, barely able to eat.”
Exactly 20 months after Takir’s death, on July 6 of this year, a man fired gunshots through Trissa’s kitchen window. A bullet struck and killed her pregnant daughter Isis, 26, a mother of three.
A 26-year-old man is charged with her murder, which prosecutors said followed an altercation over a laser pointer. The Enquirer previously reported that the shooter was facing gun and drug trafficking charges from 2022 and was free on a reduced $10,000 bond when Isis was killed.
Her daughter’s death brought Trissa to depths she had never experienced.
“I stopped caring about everything. It was like I was in a fog, like I couldn’t believe this was real.”
She temporarily moved her family into a hotel, paying for it by draining her retirement funds. She took a leave from her bank job for 11 weeks while she battled depression, for which she still receives therapy.
“Some days are better than others,” Trissa said, sitting in her apartment, just steps from the spot where she held her dying daughter. “Still being in this place, it’s hard.” She shares the space with four of her children, ages 22, 18, 12 and 11, and a newborn grandchild.
“As hard as I try, every time I turn around, I get knocked down,” Trissa said. “Life has been hard. But I’m not giving up.”
Her words offer a hint that a small flame of optimism still burns within her.
“I think about a better tomorrow,” she said, “and just stay hopeful.”
Trissa's wish: Household goods, including beds, appliances and living room furniture. Children’s clothes and shoes.
Estimated cost: $5,000.
How to help
Donations can be made online at www.uwgc.org/wishlist. You can also mail donations to: United Way of Greater Cincinnati, Attn: Wish List Pledge Processing, P.O. Box 632840, Cincinnati, OH 45263-2840. Please include “Wish List” in the memo line on checks.
John Johnston is the content writer at United Way and a former Enquirer reporter.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Trissa Green, mother of Isis Roseman, featured in Enquirer Wish List
