Jennifer Miller, 42 was used to taking care of everyone else in her life. A health care aid in an Oakland County public school, she loves her job working with mentally, emotionally and physically impaired children.
Jennifer was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer in January of 2014.
“At first, my husband Kevin and I thought we would be fine financially. We were used to providing for our family. But the burden that cancer put on us was a lot more than we could handle. I needed to take time off to focus on me and beating this disease.
This energetic, friendly mom of two was used to giving, not receiving. In fact, accepting help at their toughest hour was the hardest part for Kevin and Jennifer.
“My focus needed to be on my health and my husband concentrated on everything else—including our finances, which were taking a big hit due to my time off,” said Jennifer. “New Day Foundation for Families helped take that stress away, providing help with car payments, Target gift cards, horseback riding lessons for my daughter and football and music lessons for my son. It was so helpful to have one less thing to worry about. We were able to keep things as normal as possible for the kids while I went through chemo, lumpectomy and eventually a double mastectomy this year.
It is estimated that the average added cost of fighting cancer for a family with insurance is $1,200 per month. New Day Foundation for Families can help alleviate that added burden in the initial stage of diagnosis, allowing families to focus on their loved one, thrive and heal.
Today, Jennifer is back to work at the job she loves, getting caught up financially, thanks in large part to New Day and is feeling great as she as continues to heal.