My foster baby has been in the NICU at HDVCH for almost one year, after transferring from St. Mary’s. He is almost 8 months old and has never left the hospital. I came to be his foster mom a few months later, and I met Stephanie shortly after. We had many incredible doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapists during our stay, but no one advocated more for us than Stephanie.

Our foster journey has not been easy, as I am a single mom, and Stephanie witnessed a lot of discrimination against me by the social workers at the NICU. Stephanie personally went to her manager on her day off to fight for my baby and me, as she firmly believes God handpicked me to be his foster mom and there is no one better suited to care for him than my extended family and me.

I firmly believe that without Stephanie advocating for us (when no one else would), we would not be discharging with a safe discharge plan in 2 days. Stephanie always went the extra mile to encourage me, teach me his care, and love both of us. She was present for his firsts: first trach change, all of my trach classes, my many trach classes, his first stroller ride, and so much more.

She gave him extra attention and care when I was sick and unable to visit. She’s been our supporter, encourager, advocate, teacher, coach, friend, and nurse.

We love you, Stephanie! “Thank you” does not even begin to cover how much you mean to us and how grateful we are for everything you have done. Not to mention, she recruited coworkers to be home nurses for us and volunteered to go to all of our appointments after discharge on her own time to support us. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much.