Heather was enrolled in Sparc's Supported Employment in August of 2002. Her first job was at Pizza Hut and for the last 5 years she has been with the Illinois Department of Professional Regulations - and loves it.
Heather is a hard worker and very dedicated to her job at the Illinois Department of Professional Regulations. She has been there for 5-years and she just loves it. In fact, she does not like to miss any work at all. Although, come next year in June, she will have to miss some days when her brother gets married in Marion, Illinois.
I learned something very interesting about Heather the other day. While she was at church one Sunday, a group of people came in to talk about sponsoring less fortunate children and adults in other countries. Heather took this to heart and she told her mom “this is what I want to do”. She wanted to help a child.
Well, when she and her mom went to the place to find a child to sponsor, they were told there were no more children left. Her mom contacted the agency and explained the situation, which brought the lady on the phone to tears. This got the ball rolling and the agency asked what age and gender Heather preferred and then handpicked a 7 year old Philippine girl.
That girl is now 11 years old. Heather spent about $300 on this child last year helping her with the items she needed. The agency sends Heather a 5 x 7 photo every year. Heather and the little girl write each other and the agency provides translation. It was very moving to hear this. Heather’s mom stated that Heather doesn’t care about buying herself shoes, clothes, purses, or other material items. She would rather spend her money helping others.
- Erin Coughlin, Sparc’s Life Enrichment Coordinator
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