Elizabeth
Seattle Milk Fund is delighted to welcome Elizabeth, into the Child Care and Family Support Program, as a new grantee. Elizabeth’s education journey is one of love, inspiration and determination.
A few years ago, Elizabeth and her fiancée decided to have a baby. Having a baby changes your life, and it couldn’t have been truer for Elizabeth and her fiancée. About 10 hours after her daughter’s birth, Elizabeth noticed her daughter was having a seizure. The nurse thought it was just a fidgety newborn moving about, but her mother’s intuition and experience with her own epilepsy told her something else was going on. Elizabeth asked the nurse to check on her and they witnessed four more seizures. Her seizures had been a sign of a stroke, and two days later she was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy.
After the initial shock of their newborn’s diagnosis, Elizabeth and her fiancée knew they had to be strong and move forward for the sake of their daughter’s well-being.
Elizabeth recalls saying at the time, “Okay, so where do we go from here? What do we need to do? She is our baby and if she is going to be in a wheelchair then we will bedazzle it with jewels and we will take care of her no matter what.”
The new parents took pride in the fact that they didn’t care what the situation was, only that she was their baby and they would love and take care of her no matter what.
Their baby is now a toddler. With the help of in-home therapy and the use of braces since she was about two months old, she is overcoming the odds and is doing better than ever expected by her doctors. “She is walking and talking and full of life. She is absolutely perfect,” Elizabeth lovingly boasts.
Elizabeth wants a better life for her family and is following her dreams, “I hope one day after seeing me strive toward my goals and ambitions, my daughter will want to do the same.”
About six months after the birth of her daughter, Elizabeth decided to enroll in college full-time to begin her higher education. With her positive attitude and her daughter as her inspiration, Elizabeth has excelled in the Social and Human Services program at Lake Washington Institute of Technology (LWTech).
Elizabeth’s advisor at LWTech glows about her star student, “She has made the Dean’s List each quarter she has been enrolled. I have no doubt that that with the motivation Elizabeth displays and her determination to reach her goals that she will become a clinical psychologist.”
Seattle Milk Fund provides Elizabeth, and all students who are accepted into the program, with child care funding and other family support needs. Seattle Milk Fund has also paired Elizabeth up with a volunteer mentor who is a part of her support system while she is in school.
As a full-time student, Elizabeth is relieved to have found child care help, “Seattle Milk Fund makes it easier for me to go to school because they take a huge financial burden off of me.”
Elizabeth’s journey to achieving her educational goal is just beginning. After finishing her Social and Human Services Associates Degree at LWTech, she plans to transfer to Seattle Central College for their Bachelor of Applied Science Degree in Applied Behavioral Science. She then hopes to apply to Washington State University’s Clinical Psychology Graduate Program. We are eager to keep you updated on Elizabeth’s story. Stay tuned!
