Mother Living in Swamp Shelter Seeks Treatment for Son’s Addiction

Published: November 4, 2026

MONROVIA — Helena Johnson’s eldest son finished high school and once helped support the family. Now 34, he is addicted to drugs, and Johnson, who lives in a zinc shelter in a Monrovia swamp and survives on a petty trade started with US$50, cannot afford to get him treatment.

The 50-year-old mother of three is appealing to government institutions, humanitarian organizations, community leaders and individuals for help placing her son in a rehabilitation program, expanding her business and replacing her makeshift home with a safe one.

Johnson said her son lived in the Freeport community and regularly supported her until she brought him to live with her in Crab Hole Community, St. Paul Bridge.

“He used to help me a lot until I took him from Freeport and brought him here. That’s when he started smoking,” she said.

She said he has told her he wants to stop using drugs and seek treatment, and she believes a rehabilitation facility could give him a chance to recover and rebuild his life. But her earnings barely cover the family’s basic needs.

Johnson sells pepper, Vita, seasoning and other small household items. The business runs on US$50 given to her by a woman she identified only as Doris, and her children help when they can.

“I don’t have anything. It’s Doris that gave me $50 USD, and that is what I’m turning around in,” she said.

Her home stands on land she bought after leaving her children’s father’s family home. It is built from secondhand zinc sheets on low-lying, swampy ground. Johnson has been piling dirt around the structure to raise the ground and keep water out during the rainy season, and the dirt now covers the area where the family lives and sleeps. Exposed, uninsulated electrical wires run through parts of the shelter, posing a risk of shock and fire.

“I want support for my business expansion or for people to help me fix my living place. This is my own place, but I don’t have money to turn it into a concrete building,” she said.

Johnson said she gave birth to six children and lost three. Their father died in 2021, leaving her without steady support.

She hopes help with her business would let her earn enough to improve the family’s conditions, and that a concrete house would protect them from flooding and the electrical hazards they now live with. Her most urgent appeal, she said, is for her son.

She can be reached by cell at +231 (0) 770566055.