Single Mom & Special Needs Son
Donation protected
By Valerie Bauman
Kelly Hill is my hero. If you read to the end of this, she'll be yours too.
First, you should know why she needs your help. Most importantly, she needs to pay for quality childcare for Avram, her sweet, energetic 13-year-old son with special needs. Especially during the next two years as she tries to finish school so she can be financially independent and support her son.
She has been recognized in the community and beyond for her contributions. In addition to her work and advocacy in HIV/AIDS, Kelly is a strong advocate within the disability community. Furthermore, she has a strong commitment to working with youth: she has volunteered at Powerful Voices, Lambert House, and worked with girls in juvenile detention.
Kelly has taken out school loans, and has won some small scholarships based on her extensive volunteer and advocacy work in the community. But it's just not enough. She needs help to get her through the next two years so she can complete her Masters program, which would give her higher earning potential. Kelly is currently working on obtaining her Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.
A big part of the problem is that while she's in school (six hours + study/homework time) and at work (20 hours per week), she needs someone to watch Avram. But for a child with his needs, care costs more per hour than her own hourly wage.
But there are other things you should know about Kelly.
Since 2005, she has been involved in Seattle-based BABES Network-YWCA , a nonprofit supporting women with HIV where she helps other HIV-positive women advocate for their own health care needs. She still works at BABES part time, balancing that with school and her son.
Fortunately, Avram was born without HIV, and he is physically healthy. This kid is a serious charmer! Avram is almost always smiling, seriously digs the hokey pokey, and loves dancing to Prince and Michael Jackson.
But Avram will never be able to care for himself or live on his own. He is nonverbal and needs assistance with dressing and toileting. Kelly's job raising a child with an intellectual disability comes with additional challenges and expenses beyond what parents with typical kids can imagine.
She loves him fiercely, and her greatest fear is Avram being on his own without someone who can love him the way she does. With the right help and expertise, she can get the help she needs.
Kelly is very healthy, although parenting a child with special needs has her thinking ahead. She wants to create a special needs trust for Avram, so he will be taken care of when she dies. It costs $600 to start one, which seems like an insurmountable sum on top of what she needs for school, childcare and basic survival.
Without the childcare needed, Kelly would likely be forced to drop out of school, which would keep her – and Avram – in a cycle of poverty that she was born into and has been trying to escape for decades. Kelly is the first one in her family to have earned a college degree. And she has no family who is able to help support her and Avram, no one to call for help; both of her parents have died. Her friends are her family. And that's why we're asking for your help.
Compounding the challenge, she is transitioning to once again living on her own with Avram, so she is losing the financial support for half of her rent and bills, and the extra assistance caring for Avram while she is at school and work.
We calculated the amount we're trying to raise based on the cost of childcare for Avram, two years of tuition costs beyond Kelly's loans and scholarships, and what she would need to keep a roof over her and Avram's head. But anything will help; every dollar makes life easier for this little family.
Kelly is my hero, and she's pretty much going to save the world with the passion she has for her work. The universe needs her to finish her Masters program so she can get out there and continue giving back.
I will never be able to convey the kindness, integrity and bravery of this woman. She has had enough challenges. Let's give her a hand up.
Kelly Hill is my hero. If you read to the end of this, she'll be yours too.
First, you should know why she needs your help. Most importantly, she needs to pay for quality childcare for Avram, her sweet, energetic 13-year-old son with special needs. Especially during the next two years as she tries to finish school so she can be financially independent and support her son.
She has been recognized in the community and beyond for her contributions. In addition to her work and advocacy in HIV/AIDS, Kelly is a strong advocate within the disability community. Furthermore, she has a strong commitment to working with youth: she has volunteered at Powerful Voices, Lambert House, and worked with girls in juvenile detention.
Kelly has taken out school loans, and has won some small scholarships based on her extensive volunteer and advocacy work in the community. But it's just not enough. She needs help to get her through the next two years so she can complete her Masters program, which would give her higher earning potential. Kelly is currently working on obtaining her Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.
A big part of the problem is that while she's in school (six hours + study/homework time) and at work (20 hours per week), she needs someone to watch Avram. But for a child with his needs, care costs more per hour than her own hourly wage.
But there are other things you should know about Kelly.
Since 2005, she has been involved in Seattle-based BABES Network-YWCA , a nonprofit supporting women with HIV where she helps other HIV-positive women advocate for their own health care needs. She still works at BABES part time, balancing that with school and her son.
Fortunately, Avram was born without HIV, and he is physically healthy. This kid is a serious charmer! Avram is almost always smiling, seriously digs the hokey pokey, and loves dancing to Prince and Michael Jackson.
But Avram will never be able to care for himself or live on his own. He is nonverbal and needs assistance with dressing and toileting. Kelly's job raising a child with an intellectual disability comes with additional challenges and expenses beyond what parents with typical kids can imagine.
She loves him fiercely, and her greatest fear is Avram being on his own without someone who can love him the way she does. With the right help and expertise, she can get the help she needs.
Kelly is very healthy, although parenting a child with special needs has her thinking ahead. She wants to create a special needs trust for Avram, so he will be taken care of when she dies. It costs $600 to start one, which seems like an insurmountable sum on top of what she needs for school, childcare and basic survival.
Without the childcare needed, Kelly would likely be forced to drop out of school, which would keep her – and Avram – in a cycle of poverty that she was born into and has been trying to escape for decades. Kelly is the first one in her family to have earned a college degree. And she has no family who is able to help support her and Avram, no one to call for help; both of her parents have died. Her friends are her family. And that's why we're asking for your help.
Compounding the challenge, she is transitioning to once again living on her own with Avram, so she is losing the financial support for half of her rent and bills, and the extra assistance caring for Avram while she is at school and work.
We calculated the amount we're trying to raise based on the cost of childcare for Avram, two years of tuition costs beyond Kelly's loans and scholarships, and what she would need to keep a roof over her and Avram's head. But anything will help; every dollar makes life easier for this little family.
Kelly is my hero, and she's pretty much going to save the world with the passion she has for her work. The universe needs her to finish her Masters program so she can get out there and continue giving back.
I will never be able to convey the kindness, integrity and bravery of this woman. She has had enough challenges. Let's give her a hand up.
Organizer
Kelly Hill
Organizer
Seattle, WA
