8801-keneug-Mar16-Mom-of-the-Year-Contest-Digital-Materials-newsletter1

Thank you for voting. The mom with the most votes will be announced Friday, May 6th!

 

Cori Pontious

MerFor Mom - CoriNominated by Lindsey Brist
My sister is my super hero. Cori and I are five years apart and have always been super close. Nine years ago my sister got caught in an abusive relationship, she tried and tried to get out of the relationship but never succeeded because of his threats. Cori then became pregnant and decided that she needed to get out, no matter what, for the safety of her child. Luckily, Cori had a loving family to turn to for help. While she was pregnant, she moved home for protection, severed all connections with the birth dad, and she also went back to Boise State and finished her Bachelors Degree, top of her class, in Chemistry, Biology, and a minor in Art. Eight years later, Cori has a beautiful daughter and she is teaching Science at Meridian Middle School. Not only did she turn her life around, but now she juggles being a single mom and working full time as a teacher (who we all know make pennies). Cori has always had an amazing outlook on life, she gives back as a teacher and also as a volunteer for the Women’s and Children’s Alliance. Not only is she my sister, but she is my hero!


Julia Logue

MerFor Mom - JuliaNominated by Jhaesea Neely
“Four years ago, a little miracle was born, Jaxon. He was two months early and wasn’t doing so good. We then realized his heart wasn’t working how it was supposed to. He was born with a heart block, a large VSD (hole) in the lower chamber, and his ventricles are switched. Two days after birth, he was life flighted to Spokane, WA where we stayed for two months before we could finally come home. At five months old, we took our journey to California to perform his first open heart surgery. They placed a band on his pulmonary artery and put in a shunt to make his blood go straight to his lungs and put in a pacemaker. This was designed to map his future and buy some time before the main surgery was needed. We went home and one week later he had fluid built up in his lungs, this was caused by the band loosening. We then were life flighted back to California for his second open heart surgery to tighten the band on his pulmonary artery. Now here we are, Jaxon is four years old and slowly growing out of his heart as expected. After multiple tests and meetings with surgeons from all over, it’s time to do the main surgery we’ve been waiting for. They will go in and patch the hole, then switch his pulmonary artery and aorta making his ventricles work normal like ours. They’ll repair the pulmonary artery because the band caused damage. It’s a very risky surgery but the surgeon thinks Jaxon has a 95% chance of having no complications. In about a month we will be taking this journey and Jaxon and I will be gone for approximately a month.” -Julia

Jaxon’s surgery went better than expected, he is finally home and on the road to recovery for a healthy life! I nominate Julia for mother of the year because she has had to go through this “alone” as a single mother and has never asked why. She always does whats best for her son and has been so selfless the last 4 years. She never asks for kudos and always puts her needs behind her son and others around her. She is such a great mom and definitely deserves recognition!


Lindsay Klein

MerFor Mom - LindsayNominated by Jodi Gempler
Lindsay is a mom to two wonderful children, a 4 year-year-old and a 16 month old. She works full-time out of the home, and in the evenings takes care of her kids as a single mother. Her husband lives in another state and she has ZERO free time and never gets a break. Lindsay is a busy lady but still makes time to care for others. When you work for the Booth Marian Pritchett School Program for Pregnant and Parenting Teens, you seem to be on call 24-7. Many of the teen moms she cares for are living in crisis situations with newborn babies. Lindsay is always there for them! As a licensed social worker, she helps these young moms with parenting skills provides mentorship and crisis intervention. She acts as a liaison between the Boise School District and Giraffe Laugh 3 Early Learning Center. She sets up collaborations with 19 agencies/organizations in town to provide life skills for these young moms. She offers evidenced based parenting classes that help provide the necessary skills to help reduce child neglect and child abuse. In addition to special programming, she recruits and manages all volunteers and interns for the program. Lindsay is “always on” – I’d love to see her be treated to a spa day because of all she does for moms in the community! She is also an active Kiwanian who spends much of her time volunteering with children’s causes. She is very deserving of this!