Fund Felicia's Fight

Hi, my name is Evie Thompson, and this Go Fund Me has been created to help my friend and coworker, Felicia Pendleton. Felicia is an award winning teacher at Woodridge Elementary. Please see her message below, pray for her and her family, and donate to show her some love!

The following is a note from Felicia:

“As I sit in my hospital bed, I am flooded with countless thoughts ranging from being discharged to yet again postponing my neice's graduation celebration due to my illness.

I'm not sure where to go from here but here we go:

Life is a compilation of thrills, rides, responsibilities, triumphs, and setbacks. Sometimes life comes at us fast and trying to stay head above the water is daunting.

This past year my career-life was blessed with many highs. I was honored with being named the Teacher of The Year for my school. I advanced to the state semi-finals for the HEB Excellence in Education award and I was recognized by the Alamo Area Alliance of Black School Educators as an Outstanding Special Education Teacher. To say I've felt validation in the work I've poured my life into, would be an understatement. On the tough days, I take and cling to the encouraging words from my teaching team.

In contrast to my career-life, my personal-life has not been as glowing. As some of you know I've been living with ILD and Crohn's. Sometimes the combination hits out of nowhere like a double-whammy. Yup, that's been my life these past 10 months. Add to that, I fractured my T11 and T12 vertebrae. The saying, "When it rains, it pours" is oh so true.

I've been beyond blessed to team with some of the best educators in the profession. My teaching team this past year has been so supportive and understanding when it comes to my health. Unfortunately, the Medical Industry has not been as kind to me.

At the start of this school year my medical insurance, through my employer, changed and not for the better. Throughout my countless appointments, procedures, treatments, and specialist visits I found myself in disbelief at how much I've had to pay out of pocket due to the lackluster coverage offered through my medical insurance. My tank of resilience has quickly been depleted with every mountain I've endured while dealing with my insurance "provider."

From September 1, 2022 - present date my medical out-of-pocket costs have totaled over $10,340. To some that may seem doable and a non-issue. To me though, it's not. My savings is now drained and the bills continue to pile up. I share that to say even with medical insurance from my district the copious amounts of medical bills are extremely unnerving.

Fresh-faced college grad Felicia would have never thought that my steepest "adulting" climb would be advocating for better medical insurance options while also humbling myself and crowd-funding to supplement my teacher salary.

...but here I find myself, again, humbly writing to ask you to consider donating. Donations would go towards covering medical expenses (past, present, and future) as well as our family bills.

I thank you, in advance, for taking the time to read my fundraising page and sharing it with others."