LaTonya has gone through many struggles in her life. As a child, teen and young adult she has struggled through challenges that left her heart heavy and head low. However, through these situations in her life, one thing remained constant and that is her faith and will to get up and try again. She had friends encouraging her to keep going. After one challenging situation in 2012 when in the midst of trying to start a bakery business she and her family found endured financial turbulence that led them to lived in a hotel for 15 months. Her love for baking did not wane. She continued baking from a  little toaster oven and with the culinary skills she learned in college she cooked in crockpots, cast iron skillets and pressure cookers to feed her family.  She received food from food pantries and vegetable co-ops and made creative meals. She used this as a stress reliever and found herself with more food than she could store. Since she had more than she needed, LaTonya took the encouragement that helped her keep going and shared it with others in the hotel by making meals and sweet treats, sharing encouraging stories and helping to keep hope in their hearts and a smile on their face.

One day a light at the end of the tunnel came and LaTonya and her family were able to get the help needed to move out of the hotel into a home for rent. After 5 1/2 years they were able to purchase their very own home! The experiences she had during that time opened LaTonya's eyes to see that there are so many people that  need more than the help of agencies with life expenses. They needed help keeping their heart encouraged while getting help so the help would be more effective in getting them through the process and on the road to self sustainability. That's when she decided to start, Sweet Start Ministries.