Dewayne Dennis has obtained his Master’s Degree and built a career as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Dewayne and Jena met in 2009 and were married in January of 2010. With no children of his own he graciously stepped into the role of father to Jena’s three children, Zoe, Devon (biological) and Drew (adopted from foster care.) In October of 2011, Dewayne and Jena welcomed Serenity, a child with Cerebral Palsy, Cerebellar Hypoplasia, Autism Spectrum Disorder, visual impairments, and developmental delays into their home and later finalized her adoption.
Just four weeks after Serenity’s arrival, Jena gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Dezlyn. Dewayne continued his work as an LCSW serving behavioral health consumers across the state through the Georgia Crisis and Access Line and Jena worked as a Recreational Therapist and Child Passenger Safety Specialist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and later joined the Paulding County School District as a Parent Mentor assisting other families in navigating resources for their special needs children. In April of 2014, their family grew again through adoption as they welcomed Aleah, a medically fragile child who had resided in a group home for the first 7 years of her life. Aleah has battled a congenital heart defect, Pulmonary Hypertension, chronic lung disease, unilateral hearing loss, feeding difficulties and developmental delays.
On April 22, 2015 Dewayne suffered a stroke. After 10 days in Neuro ICU, 3 weeks in inpatient rehabilitation and 6 weeks in a “Community Re-entry” therapy program, he is now home with his family. Although he has recovered well physically, Dewayne is now battling Aphasia, a communication disorder that impairs a person’s ability to speak, read, write and process language. Although his full recovery is unknown, without the ability to effectively communicate, he will not be able to return to work managing the crisis call center. Jena has now been charged with caring for the children, two of which have special needs, caring for Dewayne and managing all their household financial obligations.