The Kice kids

As many of you know, on Friday August 25th, Desiree Kice lost her life in a car accident. She left behind two kids, Xander (13), who has significant care needs, and Syd (15). Desiree raised two fierce, brilliant, and resilient children who she loved with everything she had. They miss her dearly and are going through a confusing and traumatic time.

My wife Kade was employed by the family as a PSW (personal support worker) for Xander and was scheduled to work on the 25th. A lot has happened since then, but long story short, they have been with us since that night and will be with us permanently. Today, 9/5, we received short term guardianship, and we will be filing for permanent guardianship (uncontested).

The kids are not in the custody of DCFS because Xander would lose his DHS waiver if he was. This means no foster care stipend, and there are some financial complications surrounding other benefits. Kade’s income came from working with Xander and Kade is no longer eligible to receive that income as his guardian.

We, and the kids, need help! We went from a household of 3 to 5 literally overnight and lost a chunk of our income. The kids lost so much more than that.

Xander will require lifelong care and Syd is looking forward to exploring college options. Funds raised by this will go toward immediate essential needs associated with raising the kids, and anything beyond that will be put into an account in Syd’s name.

Thank you for your support. Every penny helps - it takes a village.