Kym Whitley had the support of her son Joshua as she was honored with the Urban League Salute to Women Leadership Lifetime Achievement Award on September 30th.
The day after the award ceremony, Whitley took to Instagram to express her gratitude for the honor.
“Hey Y’all! Im so blessed! I was honored last night! The Urban League Salute to Women Leadership Lifetime Award! So blessed to be able to accept this award with my son, Joshua. Everything I do is to make sure he is happy. So glad he got to see me get honored. Thank you again St. Louis Urban League 🫶🏼President, and CEO Michael&Mcmillan and Charlotte Ottley two incredible human beings!!!”
Whitley’s journey to motherhood is a testament to her incredible spirit and generosity. In January 2011, Whitley found herself in a life-changing situation when a young woman she had mentored asked her to become the mother of her newborn son.
Recalling that moment, Whitley shared in an interview, “The woman on the phone said, ‘We have a baby here for you’ and I was like, ‘What?! I didn’t order a baby!’”
It was a sudden and unexpected responsibility, one that Kym hadn’t planned for. “I just hadn’t stopped working long enough or found the right man and gotten married— or even realized the years had gone by so quickly. My parents encouraged me to take the leap of faith and become a mommy.”
She added, “Adopting Joshua was one of the best decisions I ever made.”
As for Joshua’s birth mother, Whitley stayed in contact with her.
“In some weird way, I think she had the baby for me as a gift. I believe she felt that I’d done so much for her – and this was all she could do for me,” Whitley said getting choked up.
