From Strangers to Heart Family: My Journey With CT By Ryanna Cook, Mrs. Washington America 2025

Before I ever marveled at the beauty of the Kenyan landscapes or held the hand of a child in Kibera, I was a young twenty-something from Washington state who understood poverty from the inside out– at least, in America.

I grew up moving 1-2 times per year, living in, at best, unkept subsidized apartments - and at worst with my three sisters in a dark, single-window basement tucked within an alleyway. Our single mother had started her adult journey as a drop-out teen mom with burned bridges - each of us girls having different fathers who were either too unsafe to be around or who just didn’t want to be around. Our household survived on tax-funded resources - food stamps, free lunch programs, and community donations. We shared everything. But it often wasn’t enough, and we endured the abuse and neglect that often accompany poverty.

Those years left a mark, but they also planted a seed. Because even in those hardest moments, as we felt the cold sting of shame – a few people chose to place themselves within our reach, offering stability, resources, and love. People who became family to me, whether related or not – my heart family. They showed me that I could lead others in love one day. Their belief in me built belief in myself, and I became the first in my family to graduate from high school and to attend and graduate from college. I broke cycles of poverty and abuse– having married my dream partner, building successful businesses, saving our niece from those same cycles and adopting her, and building our dream home, and - just this year -  earned the title of Mrs. Washington America. All because others showed up for me.
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The heart of my story didn’t fully awaken my sense of purpose until 2014, when I took a leap of faith and joined a group of strangers traveling to Kenya with Crossing Thresholds. I wanted to positively impact a community, but hardly had a sense of what I was walking into - in fact, I had only just learned of CT via an acquaintance who heard Carter Via speak on NPR while she was working in California! I took my first trans-Atlantic flight with my husband’s full support, and met CT organizers and participants for the first time, in Kenya!

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