How to Beat
the Odds
Mindey and Michael Wheeler-Crawford
Head Start is my life changing catalyst! Heartfelt thanks goes to each and every employee that reached out to us and showed us a better way. They gave me the hope that I had lost.
My name is Mindey Wheeler-Crawford. I am a widowed mother of one incredible son, Michael, now five years old.
My parents divorced when I was two years old. My father, a Vietnam Veteran, was rarely around. I missed him and wondered why he wasn't there for me. My mother worked hard to provide a life for us, as child support was rare. My pre-teen years and teenage years were turbulent, in part by my mother’s drinking and the mother daughter fighting.
At age 18, I moved out and worked in the restaurant and healthcare field, while aggressively chasing a hobby of hang-gliding for ten years. This brought me smiles, as I was able to leave the earth and my problems behind. I then found the thrill of being an over-the-road truck driver for Swift Transportation. I attained my Commercial Driver's License and traveled throughout all of the United States and most of the Canadian Providence's. It was during my years with Swift that I met the love of my life, Ken Crawford.
We married in December of 2001 and became pregnant in February of 2002. Ken assured me everything would be okay, having had and raised children before. He would be there to hold my hand and walk me through it.
With the help of a 12-step program and continued support of Head Start, I quit drinking and have remained sober to this day. With the grace of God,
go I.
Goals I set and have achieved for myself and my family:
I became a first time home owner, in Ogden, Utah, in June of 2007. I was able to purchase a new truck that provides reliable transportation for us. Now that we were in Ogden, I got a job with the Weber School District as a diesel mechanic in the bus shop, again the only female on deck.
Michael is doing great! Our goal of going to Disneyland for the first time became a reality November 2007! We spent three days and nights. They are right, this is the year of a million dreams come true!!
We have become self-sufficient. Oh, what a feeling it is!! I have grown in leaps and bounds since having my son. Being sober and realizing this is what life is all about! I AM A PARENT! This is the greatest gift my husband and God gave me. It took Head Start for me to discover it. When you are down and out, you put blinders on your eyes and tell yourself, "This is the best I can do; this is the best I can do." With care and understanding, Head Start showed me the way to remove the blinders. They showed me the light of the path and that it would be OK! I would be OK, It is OK!!
The Head Start program is a "step-up'" to those that find themselves in situations they never thought possible. They have the resources to help you build a foundation that is sound and sturdy. I am forever changed and grateful.
Mindey has received many awards for her activities in Head Start. Mindey was first runner up for the National Head Start Parent Beating the Odds Award. This award was presented to her in Indianapolis at the National Heat Start Conference in December 2007. Mindey has Beat the Odds, thank you for your inspiration to us all.
He always knew just what to say to make my mind and heart feel at ease. In the fall of that year, six weeks before the birth of our son, Ken was killed in a motorcycle accident.
I now stood alone, a thirty-two year old instant single mother. My Dad, (who had since found the courage to work through his now diagnosed Post Traumatic stress disorder) asked me to move in with him. It was good to have my Dad there to lean on when I felt my world collapsing in on me. He was good at keeping my mind busy by working in the garden, helping him in the clock shop, etc. It gave me the daughter and dad time that I had lacked when I was younger and I know he is a great man.
"Head Start held my hand when my husband was no longer able to."
Fathers out there…calling all fathers, spend time with your kids when they are young!! Even if it is difficult with their mother, they still need you!
When my son was three months old, I moved out into a mobile home in Centerville, Utah. It was good to be making my way as an adult and on my own again. But, I found myself isolated and turned to alcohol to ease the stress of raising my son alone.
He was two when I saw a flyer for the Head Start Program. I enrolled him in Early Head Start. I began piecing my life back together, by modeling after his teacher, asking a lot of questions, working closely with my family service worker, setting goals, and attending parenting classes.When Michael switched to the full-day program, I was able to go back to school!!
I enrolled in the Heavy-Duty Diesel Program offered at the Davis Applied Technology College in Kaysville, Utah. But found that alcohol was taking over my life. I was making bad decisions when things were beginning to look up.