Hello, my name is Johnnie (Jay) Jackson. I’m a 32-year-old woman who resides in the Chicago area. I’ve lived here the majority of my life, but a few years back, I spent some time living in the Indianapolis suburbs while working for USPS.

I relocated back to my hometown in the fall of 2021 due to the mental health issues I was suffering after the pandemic. As an essential worker with one child at that time, I was working myself into a deep depression trying to juggle being a single mother while working twelve-hour shifts six or seven days a week.

Once I relocated to my hometown, I maintained my employment with the USPS but also took the next necessary steps in career advancement by enrolling back into school.

In early September of 2024, I became pregnant, which was a blessing after suffering from two stillbirths between 2015-2018. After confirming I was indeed pregnant, I will admit I contemplated ending the pregnancy out of fear that it would hold me back career-wise, but ultimately I decided to trust in God.

From there, life was moving fast, and my family and I were very excited to welcome a new family member. However, at my 27-week anatomy scan, doctors uncovered that my unborn son had Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and would need major surgeries to help with survival from this major heart defect of the left chamber of the heart not developing.

I spent my entire last trimester hospitalized due to my son’s low birth weight. During that time, I also had to complete my last semester of school from my hospital bed, which was hard to accomplish because of medical restrictions.

My son Elijah was born 6 weeks early through cesarean and quickly placed on PEG1 medications to keep a duct in his heart from closing and preventing suffocation.

Elijah went on to need 7 surgeries, 3 being open heart (Norwood, Glenn), and is now 7 months old, admitted in the PICU after having to be rushed to the ER and then airlifted to the children's hospital because fluid buildup was trapped in the left side of his chest.

I currently work full-time, but it’s often difficult because of the constant care I must give to Elijah while at home or the numerous clinic visits weekly for X-rays and echocardiograms. I couldn’t predict that this is where life would have us all, but our main concern is providing Elijah with enough love and support that he never feels the constant pain of being in such a position health-wise.

On the bright side, I did walk across the stage on May 8, 2025, two weeks after giving birth, and have been accepted into my bachelor's program for Criminal Justice at IWU this spring of 2026.

I'm asking for donations of any kind due to the fact I will have to transition from full-time to part-time employment, and a condition of my tuition assistance from my job is maintaining full-time employment to receive the grant.

Thank you,