The parents of a 2-year-old child who was found wandering around Love Park in downtown Philadelphia Friday evening explained that he was found there because the family is homeless and has nowhere else to go.
The toddler's mother, Angelique Roland, and Michael Jones, who claims to be the boy's father, say that they spent Friday night behind cardboard walls under the city's Welcome Center after being unable to find room in a shelter.
"If I had somewhere to go, I would be there," Roland told ABC's Philadelphia Associate WPVI-TV. "I am not out here on the streets with my kids on purpose."
The boy who was found wearing a green, long sleeve shirt and black running pants with a white stripe down the sides by a passerby who notified a nearby SEPTA transit officer about the discovery, authorities report. Upon arriving at the scene, the officer saw the boy had on a diaper but no shoes or socks.
The boy was then taken to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for evaluation, where he was admitted.
The family says that the boy wandered off after they had fallen asleep, and they didn't realize that he was missing until he was found in a separate area of the park, the Associated Press reported.
"Somehow he crawled past the bags over top of us, and walked out," said Jones, who also has a 4-year-old daughter who was with the parents when they were located.
The family received multiple offers of help and jobs after the story broke Saturday. A donation drive on chosen300.org was also started, and the proceeds will go towards rent costs and social services to help the family become self sufficient.
"It doesn't make them bad parents," said Brian Jenkins of Chosen 300 Ministries Inc. "It says they don't have what they need to be able to survive."
Both children are now in the care of the city's child welfare agency until the parents can get back on their feet.
