For Heather, the desire to serve has always been there: at age 17, when she asked her parents’ permission to join the National Guard. In 2003, when she was deployed to Iraq. In 2010, when she became a nurse. And continuing on today, as she quietly helps people in her community.
Heather served with the National Guard for six years and was set to be discharged in December 2003, when her unit was deployed to Iraq that March. Being part of one of the first deployments to Iraq meant sleeping in bombed buildings and showering with water from the Tigris River. It meant training Iraqi police officers who were not used to taking direction from a woman. Her respite was volunteering once a week at an orphanage in Baghdad. They were only permitted to be there for 30 minutes each week, but during that half hour they could take their gear off and be there for the children and “just feel normal again.”
Heather, on the left. Her daughter, Lillia, on the right.
When Heather got back to the US, she began to work for a health insurance company in customer service, but she knew that she wanted to do more to continue to serve. So, she decided to return to school to become a nurse. In December, she will celebrate 10 years in nursing, continuing to dedicate her life to serving others. She is currently a manager for the Harbor Haven Rehabilitation Center in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and works with short term rehab patients. As older adults with pre-existing conditions are at high risk for COVID-19, Heather is well aware of her responsibility to do all she can to keep her patients safe and well, and it’s a challenge she takes very seriously.
But her community service doesn’t stop at the end of her work day. Heather is a friend and supporter of Habitat for Humanity of Fond du Lac, and she is also active in helping her fellow veterans and others in need in the Fond du Lac community. Katie Karls, the executive director of Fond du Lac Habitat, tells stories of Heather anonymously helping families in need, including a young mother recovering from substance abuse who badly needed dental care but couldn’t afford it. Heather arranged with a local dentist to provide care, choosing to provide the help anonymously.
We’re so grateful to Heather for her service to our country and to her community. Congratulations, Heather, for being Fond du Lac Habitat’s Her Story honoree!