One fateful day in 1990, Heidi’s father went to work on his day off, with the hope of making a little extra money for him and his wife. That day would change the course of his life — and his future family’s lives — forever.
“He was electrocuted on the job back in the 90s. And because of it, he wound up losing almost all of his right arm,” Heidi explained. Yet despite the injuries he received and his resulting inability to work, he and his wife went on to have three children.
Though she never met her father before the accident, Heidi can still point out ways it changed her family’s life. “My dad always kind of shied away from people after he was injured,” Heidi noted. “Like, he was afraid to go swimming in the pool because he didn’t want to show his prosthetic, or he didn’t want to be uncomfortable with people looking at him.”
His inability to work didn’t help matters. Heidi recalls some of the subtle ways she realized her family’s situation was out of the ordinary growing up in the early 2000s. As her dad was unable to work, Heidi’s mom often worked to provide money for the family while her dad stayed at home. Heidi remembers “friends wanting to come over, and parents would ask if my mom was going to be home.”
Due to their situation, Heidi’s family didn’t have the money to back her dreams of an education, despite her father’s insistence that Heidi and her siblings get one. “I knew that if I was going to go to school, it was going to be all on me. My work ethic in school, scholarships, grants, things like that.”
That’s when Kids’ Chance of Illinois (KCIL) came into the picture. Heidi recalled the day she found out about Kids’ Chance. “I immediately applied for it. I was in disbelief. There was something that was so specific to my circumstances.”
While the scholarship opportunity offered by Kids’ Chance allowed Heidi to attend college debt-free, it also had a much more profound impact.
“My dad, our relationship deepened because of this organization.” Heidi shared. “I was fortunate enough that when I came into Kids’ Chance, I was able to still have my dad around.”
As a Kids’ Chance scholarship recipient, Heidi was offered the opportunity to speak about her experiences at a conference in 2017. “Just being able to stare at my dad sitting in the front row at those tables and being able to tell his story…I feel like that made our bond grow stronger.”
Heidi’s father has since passed away, but she continues to receive support from the Kids’ Chance community. “I’m here by myself, but I don’t feel alone. So, that’s amazing.”
