Mama Bear and Her Chosen Cubs
Embedded Files
Olivia Falcigno
Team Eisert
Story Summary
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Malinda Harris, 52, isn’t just known as a mother to her three kids. Malinda oversees her own tumbling and cheer business, Tumbling Tribe. Plus, she runs the Kennett High School and Kennett Middle School cheer teams. As a community-minded leader and business owner, Malinda awards free scholarships to low-income students who can’t afford her tumbling classes.
“To those whose much is given, much is expected,” Malinda said, quoting the Bible. This week, Malinda received a call about a young teenager she frequently takes into her home. Malinda is typically the first call when Alyssa, 14, urgently needs childcare. Alyssa experiences abuse in her home and her legal guardian has gone to jail. Her guardian is now awaiting bail on a felony child abuse charge. Alyssa fluctuates in legal custody with her mother, who suffers from drug addiction, and an abusive grandmother. In an emotional turn of events, Malinda drops everything to move Alyssa back into her family home, treating her like her own child. She has taken in several high schoolers whose families are facing eviction.
Her family warmly nicknamed her “Bossy” while the rest of the town refers to her as “The General.”
Malinda Harris, 52, bottom left, holds eight-week-old grandchild Henry Harris, bottom right, while father Jerry Combs, top left, looks down and daughter Kayton Harris, top right, wait for the Delta Fair parade. Combs, retired, left his volunteer work at his grandson’s farm to join the family.
In an annual tradition, Malinda Harris passes out Delta Fair tickets to residents. “God places people in my path that I’m supposed to help,” Malinda said.
Malinda Harris teaches Kynlee Carter, 5, how to perform a gymnastics move from her Tumbling Tribe gym. While Carter is not on scholarship, Harris provides free tuition to low-income students so that each resident has an opportunity to be included. “I run the gym to just cover my expenses,” Malinda said.
Malinda Harris pauses her workout with personal trainer Andy Jones to answer a phone call from a case worker. Malinda was informed that 14-year-old Alyssa’s legal guardian was sent to jail that morning and is now tasked with providing transportation and housing to the minor for the foreseeable future.
Malinda Harris wipes away tears as she makes a phone call to her family on her way to pick up 14-year-old Alyssa’s belongings. Alyssa is to stay with Malinda for at least the weekend. “I’m not doing this for anybody else other than my heart and what I think is right,” Malinda said.
Malinda Harris embraces Alyssa at the middle school before retrieving Alyssa's school computer so she can finish the school day. Harris later takes trash bags filled with Alyssa's belongings into her home as she will be living with the family.
Alyssa, left, sees her biological mother, Crystal Wright. Alyssa's grandmother had been placed in jail overnight.
Kayton Harris, left, Malinda Harris’s biological daughter, braids 14-year-old Alyssa’s hair in Kayton's childhood bedroom before the Delta Fair. The next day, Kayton and Alyssa found out that the Dunklin County Court has set Alyssa’s grandmother Lisa Gail Rawl’s cash bail at $30,000 for a child abuse felony charge.
From left, Ron Harris, Ragan Harris, Malinda Harris, Henry Harris, Darren Harris, Eky Combs and Kayton Harris eat dinner together as a family on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in Kennett, Mo. The Harris family typically eats dinner together several times a week.
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