Single mother fighting for child abuse registry, Wyatt's Law, getting new home from volunteers

Wyatt Hammell was severely injured by his father's girlfriend when he was just a year old. 

His mother worked tirelessly to make sure that didn't happen to others by creating an online child abuse registry in his name, but the family still has to live with a daily reminder of what happened. 

Erica Hammell and her then-husband, the young couple they were, bought a foreclosed home that needed a lot of improvements. But when they got divorced, Erica was left with a house under construction -- and a severely injured son. 

Her ex-husband's new girlfriend, a repeat child abuser, shook Wyatt, causing irreparable brain damage. Between Wyatt's therapy and doctor appointments and Erica's push to get her child abuse registry approved, little time is left to tend to her house. 

Maureen Wark from the Optimist Club of St. Clair Shores saw the condition of Erica's home on FOX 2 News a year ago, and brought an electrician out to the house to check things out. At that point, half of Erica's kitchen didn't have power so she was using extension cords for her refrigerator and microwave. 

"I walked in I just, couldn't imagine being Erica, just being in this home. I felt like I would suffocate," Maureen said. 

Through some work and planning, now the Optimist Club of St. Clair Shores is in the process of building Erica and Wyatt a brand, new house where they'll get a fresh start. 

They joined us in studio to tell us more about Wyatt's Law, and about the new home. You can hear from them in the video player above. 

If you'd like to contribute to the funding for Erica's new home, you can do so via their GoFundMe account here