It takes a golden heart to open your home to a stranger.
Not everyone can readily welcome a stranger into their home.
After all, we were reminded not to talk to or entertain a stranger when we were kids, right?
However, there are some strangers that we’re meant to meet in our lives.
Katrina Mullen is used to meeting strangers in her line of work.
But unlike most of us, she had a heart for them.
Katrina works as a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) nurse at the Community Hospital North in Indianapolis.
She always meets patients and cares for them, and her heart always goes toward the mothers and infants she tends to.
But there was one patient she just couldn’t turn her back on.
She met a teenage mother, only fourteen years old, named Shariya Small, who gave birth to triplets.
Her babies, Serenitee, Samari, and Sarayah, stayed in the NICU for over five months.
As a NICU nurse, Katrina knew it wasn’t easy for Shariya.
Katrina knew of her backstory, which resonated with her.
She also gave birth to her first child as a teenager and is now a single mother of five.
She and Shariya had a lot in common, so she knew that the next few months and years of this young girl’s life wouldn’t be easy.
She lent her hand at almost every step.
Katrina taught her the basics of being a first-time mom, like carrying and feeding her babies.
She gave her phone number to Shariya the day they were discharged from the hospital just in case she had questions.
It wasn’t obligatory, but Katrina thought she would need it.
They kept in touch, and Katrina found time to visit Shariya.
That’s when she noticed that one of the babies, Samari, didn’t look well.
They took him to the hospital, triggering a call to the Department of Social Services.
Social workers told Shariya that she and her triplets must be placed in foster care unless someone took them in.
Shariya had no one to turn to – except Katrina.
Social services called Katrina and told her about Shariya’s request. She said yes in a heartbeat.
“Without a moment’s hesitation, I said yes. Because I didn’t want her, after everything she’d already been through, to have to be separated from them,” Katrina told TODAY.
Shariya came to live with Katrina, along with her triplets.
She continued studying and graduated from an alternative high school.
She has plans to attend college to become a social worker.
All these were made possible because one person opened her heart and home to a stranger that needed a hand.
But that’s not the end of this beautiful story.
After 688 days of fostering Shariya and the triplets, Katrina decided to adopt her.
The adoption was finalized in February this year, and she’s now the official mother of Shariya and grandma to Serenitee, Samari, and Sarayah.
She also set up a GoFundMe page as a financial cushion for the triplets as Shariya continues her academic journey.
Watch this beautiful story in the video below!
