From Afghanistan to Vicksburg – I Still Stand

A story of survival, strength, and why I chose to build where I almost broke.

I didn’t plan to stay in Vicksburg. It wasn’t home. It was just where I landed after everything collapsed.

I came here after war, divorce, emotional abuse, a miscarriage, and a diagnosis I didn’t even know I had — long COVID while pregnant. I was supposed to still be in uniform, still stationed, still in control. But life had other plans. And I almost didn’t survive them.

I served in the Army for nearly 20 years. I’ve worn boots in Afghanistan. I’ve seen what war does to countries — and what it does to mothers. But nothing prepared me for what I faced when I came home. Not the silence. Not the medical misdiagnosis. Not the weight of being a single mother carrying three daughters, a broken body, and a heart full of unanswered prayers.

In April 2021, I was rushed in for an emergency C-section. Winter — my third baby — wasn’t supposed to be born yet. But COVID had taken over my body, and I was dying. They saved her. And they saved me.

That moment changed everything.

I could’ve left. I could’ve disappeared back into the system. But I didn’t. I stayed. And I stayed because I realized something:

I didn’t just come home — I became the home my daughters needed.

Vicksburg isn’t where I thought I’d rebuild my life. But it’s where I realized I was still standing. It’s where I learned that healing can happen even in places that once hurt you. It’s where I decided to take everything I survived and turn it into something sacred.

That’s why I started Rebuilding Vicksburg From the Inside Out.
Because I know what it feels like to be overlooked.
I know what it feels like to have no safe place.
And I know what it means to fight for something better — even when your body, your spirit, and your world are tired.

This nonprofit isn’t just a project. It’s a promise.
To my daughters.
To my neighbors.
To my granddaddy who taught me how to love with my hands and build with my heart.

I’m not just a veteran.
I’m not just a survivor.
I’m a mother. A warrior. A woman who still stands.

And that’s why I’m here — to rebuild this city, one story, one home, and one healed soul at a time.

With strength,
Elnoro Perrilla Shanta Winston
Founder, Rebuilding Vicksburg From the Inside Out
Daughter. Veteran. Mother. Builder.

💛 Join the Movement

You can help me rebuild what was almost lost.
You can help mothers find safe places.
You can make sure our healing has a home.