Woman Overcomes Criminal History, Opens Tulsa Café In Honor Of Daughter

Maria Morris is pouring the same support she was given into other women who need a second chance.

"I struggled with addiction as an adult,” Morris said. “My past is not who I am, that's not what defines me."

In 2018, a fire in the house where Morris and her two-year-old daughter, Carabelle, were living, changed the course of her life.

"She didn't make it,” Morris said.

Morris lost her baby and was charged with child neglect.

She served almost a year in the county jail and was facing 20 years in prison.

"I know how hard it is to have a criminal record, the stigma that surrounds a criminal record, how hard it is to find a second chance,” Morris said.

But she found one.

Maria was referred to a nonprofit that helps formerly incarcerated women re-enter society.

She got a job through the Mental Health Association and four months after being released from jail, Morris became a barista.

"That was my launch pad,” Morris said.

She went on to create a catering business and a non-profit named in honor of Carabelle.

But she came back to the place that made all the difference. Now four years later, Maria owns the coffee cart.

"I’m getting to carry her spirit with me and carry her memory with me and every day when I wake up I am going to go to Carabelle's,” Morris said.

The road to recovery is a long one. Morris will travel it one cup at a time.

"For everyone to come around me and support me in this way, through my recovery like I never got a closed door through my support systems. They always said let's find a way that you can, and they made me feel like I could do anything,” Morris said.

Carabelle's Micro Café will open next Tuesday in the Legacy Plaza East Tower.