“Family has always been super important to me. My journey through my family genealogy has changed my life. It’s made me more aware of how big the world is and how many shoulders I stand on, thousands and thousands and thousands of people.”
Baisha Whitten is the mother of two sons, Addis (15) and Ajani (7), living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with her husband David Jr. Baisha’s family is very close knit; the art of family is Baisha’s biggest reward. Having her family’s support – including her dad and uncle – pouring into her and the children’s lives propelled her to not only be successful as a college graduate and in her career but also to have the ability to pour back into them. They all rely on one another for caregiving needs. While this can be overwhelming at times, caring for loved ones is a way of life for the Whitten family. It is especially important for members of Baisha’s family who suffer from challenging health conditions such as Alzheimer’s, heart conditions, and PTSD.
The family’s interconnectedness and dependency inspired Baisha to research their history and fill in some of the knowledge gaps. Baisha’s grandmother was adopted and lacked details about her birth story, so she did a genealogy test and used the results to locate relatives on her grandmother’s side. After speaking with her grandmother’s relatives, Baisha has made it her mission to reclaim any unclaimed assets and locate new family members. To Baisha’s surprise, she found her biological aunt, Barbara McClane, through Ancestry and arranged for her to fly out to Milwaukee to meet the Whitten family. Baisha, her aunt, and the entire family have since developed a close relationship. This inspired her to help connect other families, and advocate for families in her own community and her children’s school on issues including family support funding, childcare, school system, employment, etc. Currently, Baisha is an accountant and a community advocate in Milwaukee.
Read the blog post from program associate Mike White on rwjf.org to learn more about how RWJF is prioritizing and responding to parent and caregiver voices.
