- Black Angel
Plants Seeds
- Wilmington,
Delaware
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- When she was on
drugs, Sadie DeJarnette spent time in jail. She also
spent time on the streets. Now that she’s a
successful businesswoman, she spends time in jail and on
the streets. The difference is, she now helps others who
are in the same situation she once was in.
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- "As a child and
a young lady, I was in prison off and on for over 20
years," says the 44-year-old owner of Sadie and
Company Hair Salon. "It was there that a Bible
studies volunteer told me that one day I would come back
and help other girls."
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- Now eight years out
of jail and off probation, DeJarnette not only
participates in several prison ministries but also helps
feed the homeless of Wilmington. She is vice president of
the Wilmington Women Aglow ministries; she has helped
coordinate Victory Christian Fellowships of Women of
Change and has gone to Africa as a missionary. She holds
regular Bible studies classes in her salon.
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- "My daughter
once said that I must really love the low, low,
low," she says. "And I do because I was lucky.
I never lost my business or my family." She says,
"I lost three husbands, but they obviously
didn’t belong to me."
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- It’s not unusual
for DeJarnette to get the urge to hit the streets and
find people who need help. Often, she’ll go with
food or maybe just a good word for those in need. "I
remember one time. I saw one girl sitting alone. She had
no teeth, and her arms were covered with abscesses due to
the heroin she took. She said she wanted help. We both
sat there and cried. Then I told her if I could clean up
my act, she could too. Today she’s in her last year
in college. All her marks are good. She lives with her
mother and comes to my Bible class once a day."
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- Although she helps
others, DeJarnette says that she herself is still growing
as an individual. Feeling that there’s more that can
be done to help others. She says that one day her dream
is to have a shelter that will provide both physical and
spiritual relief. "I’ve been called a
‘black angel,’" she says with some
embarrassment. "I just see that people have
potential. Somebody saw it in me. Sure you don’t win
them all, but plant the seeds in them and God will water
it."
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- Jeff Williams
- Copyright 1992, The
News Journal, Wilmington, DE
- Posted for Non-Profit
Educational use under the Fair Use Provisons of the
InterNational Copyright Laws.