“It was just one big sleepover,” Jefferson said.
Yolonda Jefferson has always had a giving heart.
So it’s no surprise to those who know her that she called her family to invite them to hunker down at her home in Hephzibah during Hurricane Helene and the days following.
And they came alright.
Altogether, Jefferson and her wife Georgia housed their four children, five grandchildren (though two only stayed a few days), Jefferson’s godson and his mother, Georgia’s sister and her husband, plus their three kids.
Are you keeping count?
That’s 18 adults and children nestled into a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home. The first three days with no power.
One of the home’s bedrooms features wooden bunk beds, and the family fits one mattress and two air mattresses on that room’s floor for a total of five. The second bedroom, which Yolonda describes as more of a smaller office space, has a futon for one person, Yolonda and Georgia have their primary bedroom and then the rest find space in the living room.