Main fundraiser photo

Caring for the Carter Crew

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Joe & Cora Carter are loving and dedicated first-time parents from Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Married for eight years, they knew that having children would not be easy, but they certainly weren't expecting to have twins during a pandemic - or that the girls would have IUGR and Cora would need to be hospitalized an hour away from home until delivery when she went in for a routine 24 week ultrasound on her birthday.

Twelve scary days later, Cora's pregnancy was over at 25 weeks and 6 days when doctors told she and Joe that the girls were in distress. No time for baby showers or getting a nursery ready. It was go time.  Joe was by her side as Cora had her c section and delivered their daughters, Ada Jane and Anna Jean. Ada weighed 1 lb. 4 oz. and Anna weighed 1 lb. 2 oz.  Thus, Joe & Cora were quickly thrown on the NICU roller coaster and had to ride alone because of COVID visiting restrictions. Oh, and did we mention that Joe and Cora actually tested positive right after Cora had the babies? Yep, they did. And not everyone was still getting paid to quarantine by then . . . 

But nonetheless, they had these two amazing tiny little girls fighting for their lives at Vanderbilt, and they quickly learned what it meant to have pieces of your heart walk around outside of your body. 



We started talking to them about a fundraiser then, but they would much rather be the ones giving than receiving.  Cora is an RN at a psychiatric long term care facility, and volunteered to work on the COVID isolation unit when the pandemic began. Joe is a fire safety and alarm tech at Marmic Fire and Safety, and volunteers with the Christian County Rescue Squad.  But now is when they need OUR help. They have already used their sick and vacation days in this journey, and they are going to NEED time at home with their babies once they are discharged from the hospital. 


This picture means the world to all of us. It is their first family photo all together. They had to wait 40 days to get it, but Ada and Anna are already teaching us a lot about patience and faith.  As Joe and Cora's family and friends, we want them to be able to take the time off work to enjoy the girls without worrying about the financial toll.  We don't know exactly when the girls will be discharged, but we're less than 8 weeks away from their due date now. We hope the girls will be home sooner than that and we want to get the money to Joe & Cora so they can let their employers know how much time they will be taking off. 

Likewise, the medical bills are obviously going to be huge too considering not only the normal childbirth expenses, but being hospitalized and monitored for almost two weeks at Vanderbilt will certainly be a pretty penny. The girls have already been in the NICU 45 days and umm, Joe had a surgery during all of this too.  They will easily hit their $16,000 out of pocket max. 

So many people have already been extremely encouraging, faithful to pray, and generous. We truly can't thank you enough.  Your prayers and support mean so much to all of us. Any money donated will go directly to Joe and Cora so they can use for expenses during their time off work with the girls, medical bills, and items for the girls. 

It's hard to imagine being able to cover all of those things, but when we simply wanted them to have a baby, God gave them TWO, so we are going big!

Fundraising team: Carter Crew Cheer Squad (2)

Nancy Riddick Carter
Organizer
Hopkinsville, KY
Joseph Carter
Beneficiary
Sophie Voris
Team member

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