‘God provided’: Mississippi woman fired from prison job to care for inmate’s baby, then community showed up

A faithful woman was fired From his job at a Louisiana correctional facility to care for an inmate’s baby before word spread and donations poured in from the community.

Roberta Bell, 58, lives in Vickburg, Mississippi, where she cares for five of her eight grandchildren. Bell was working as a correctional officer at the Louisiana Women’s Transitional Facility when she met a pregnant woman who needed help.

Katie Bourgeois only needed to serve two more months of her sentence, but she was about to give birth. No one in her family could take care of the child until she was discharged and she asked Bell if she could take care of the baby. Bell agreed and alerted her supervisor, who told him there was a conflict of interest with her work.

The supervisor later asked Bell if she was still considering fostering the child.

“I said, if the hospital calls me to come get that baby, I’ll have it,” Bell told CBS News. “And he said, ‘Well, okay, I’m going to have to fire you.'”

Bell decided that the baby was more important than his job. A week later the baby was born and he took him to her house.

“I started taking pictures, I started taking pictures,” Bell said. “He was so precious. I put his clothes and other things on him and held him for a while. They strapped him into a car seat, and we left and went back home.”

Bourgeois named the baby Kayson, which happens to be the same name as one of her grandchildren.

“For two months I raised him. I loved him like he was my own and I still love him today,” she said.

Bourgeois was released on July 4 and went directly to Bell’s home to pick up her baby.

“She was, you know, a little nervous because he didn’t really know her and she said, ‘She’s crying, Mrs. Bell,’ and I said, ‘Well, honey.’ I said, ‘She’s got to pull herself together.’ ‘” Bell explained to CBS News.

Bell found a new calling after word spread in the community and people began donating money and baby products to her.

“God provided so many things,” Bell said through tears. “People came, agencies called. [was] just overwhelming, because I couldn’t do it alone. “That was part of my ministry that I’m getting ready to begin.”

Bell, who now works sorting cans at a food distributor, is using the donations to establish a halfway house for women leaving prison called “Serenity House.”

“I hope it’s ready before the beginning of the year,” he said, “because the ladies are calling me.”

CBS concluded the emotional story with Bell singing a hymn that she would use as a lullaby to help the baby fall asleep.

Here is the interview with Roberta Bell:

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