Hello friends and generous strangers! My name is Katy, and I am a friend of Tia’s. We met when she was working at the ABA clinic that my then, 3.5 year old, newly diagnosed autistic, non-verbal son would end up attending for several years. Overwhelmed, afraid for his future, and terrified of making the wrong choice, I called the clinic and spoke to Tia, who was warm, welcoming, confident, efficient, and incredibly endearing. She helped guide us thru the process of getting our son into therapy, and later became one of his favorite techs, working daily with him. She earned his trust, gained access into his world, and taught him invaluable skills, including potty training him! He adored her, and so do I!

We’ve stayed friends since then, after she left that job, and I’ve watched her balance being a single mom with incredible grit and grace. She is a phenomenal mother to Millie, her 13 year old daughter, who is quite clearly the center of her world. The pictures here are all taken while Tia was in the middle of brutal daily radiation treatments and weekly chemo, but she continued to show up for Millie in every way, as tho nothing was amiss. Millie’s needs have always been, and will always be, paramount for Tia. Cancer came knocking, and Tia took it in stride, barely skipping a beat! She barreled thru her treatments, never complaining, always keeping a positive attitude and a grateful spirit, and was given the “Rockstar patient” award by her oncology team for enduring incredibly painful side effects, without requesting the status quo pain meds. Tia had to continue to work and be a full time mom…she couldn’t be knocked out by pain meds. No time for that!

Her finances, however, have not fared so well. She had met her deductible and out of pocket max on her insurance, and then, in an unbelievable turn of events, her employer dropped their health insurance policy! The employer bungled things so badly that their policy was dropped, and Tia is forced to pay for COBRA health insurance coverage until the employer’s new policy kicks in, in a few months…but then there will be a whole new deductible and out of pocket max to meet. It’s a literal nightmare. Cancer treatment bills are enough to cripple the finances of many Americans, much less a single mom…then add on the change in policy and COBRA debacle, and…this could truly sink her ship. Please, if you can, help Tia pay towards her insurance premiums and medical bills. Help shoulder some of her medical bill burden.