My Story

The Heart Behind That GrandMom

People often ask me how I do it all.

The truth is, I never imagined my life would look like this.

Just a few years ago, I was living a different season of life. My children were growing up, and I was beginning to enjoy the freedom that comes when your responsibilities begin to lessen. I could travel when I wanted, run errands without planning around children, and simply enjoy the life I had worked so hard to build.

Then everything changed.

My daughter has battled Bipolar Disorder, ADHD, and Oppositional Defiant Disorder for much of her life. When she turned 18 and left for college, I could no longer require her to continue the treatment plan that had helped her. Like many parents, I hoped she would make healthy decisions on her own.

She returned home with her first child.

For a while, she managed motherhood well enough that I believed everything would work out. But over time, more children came, and eventually her mental health declined. Two years ago, she experienced a severe mental health crisis that resulted in hospitalization.

At that moment, everything changed for our family.

What began as helping temporarily quickly became becoming the full-time parent to my four beautiful grandchildren.

Almost overnight, I found myself starting over.

At the same time, my life was already full.

I am the primary caregiver for my 89-year-old mother, who depends on me for support and care. My youngest daughter, who has autism, was preparing to leave for college—a milestone that brought both excitement and new challenges as I helped her transition into adulthood. While caring for multiple generations of my family, I also continued working a full-time career in education and maintained a part-time job.

There were days when I questioned how I would manage it all.

Every day required balancing doctor's appointments, school meetings, homework, meals, laundry, bills, work responsibilities, caregiving, and trying to make sure everyone around me had what they needed. Somewhere in the middle of all of that, I had to remember to take care of myself.

But God never left me.

Through every difficult moment, every sleepless night, every unexpected expense, and every sacrifice, He continued to remind me that this journey had a purpose.

As I began connecting with other grandparents raising grandchildren, I realized something heartbreaking.

There are thousands of us.

Grandparents all over this country are stepping in to raise grandchildren because of addiction, mental illness, incarceration, military deployment, death, or other family crises. Many of us are doing it with very little support. We are navigating legal systems, financial hardships, emotional exhaustion, and the challenges of parenting all over again.

Yet our stories often go unheard.

That's why I created That GrandMom, Inc.

Our mission is simple:

To ensure that grandparents and other kinship caregivers never have to walk this journey alone.

Through That GrandMom, we are building a community that provides resources, education, emotional support, advocacy, and practical assistance for grandparents raising grandchildren. We want families to know that there is hope, help, and healing available.

This isn't just a nonprofit.

It's my life.

It's my testimony.

It's my purpose.

Every challenge I've faced has prepared me to serve someone else.

If sharing my story helps one grandmother feel less alone, one family find hope, or one child experience stability and love, then every step of this journey has been worth it.

My name is Leah R. Le'Gette.

I am an educator.

An administrator.

A certified art therapist.

A caregiver.

A daughter.

A mother.

A grandmother.

A founder.

And this is only the beginning.

Welcome to That GrandMom.
Where no grandparent has to raise the next generation alone.