Sarah Tafoya

“There was something about when we took the tour at St. Jude that we just felt like this would be a really great place for our kids to grow and to be educated.”

“Within the first three or four months of being here, it definitely proved to be a positive choice. I was pregnant that year, and my daughter was born stillborn. The faculty came to the funeral, which was so unexpected, and monitored my daughter as she was in school to see how she was doing, how she was acting, and if she needed any emotional support or anything.”

“Their response was completely unexpected, because we weren’t expecting the loss, and we weren’t expecting that kind of support. So we knew right away, even more so from our initial feeling, that this was a great place. This is not the kind of support you receive at every school.”

“I have three kids, and one on the way, coming in February. My two oldest are in third grade and fourth. We’ve been here six years.”

“We’ve just continually appreciated, year after year, the communication with the staff about issues that my children have had either educationally or behaviorally. It’s incredible being able to work one-on-one with the teachers and the staff to help figure out how we can help them to thrive and to grow and to get better and to do their best.”

“Last year, my husband and I were both gainfully employed when our two started the school year, yet by the end of 2020, it looked like my job was going to be coming to an end. And we weren’t really sure we would be able to finish paying tuition with the drop in income.”

“So it was just a great blessing when we got the news that both of our children were awarded partial scholarships through the tax credit scholarship program. It was nice to have that kind of relief and remember, ‘We can do this. Someone’s got our back. Someone’s there to help us to make sure that at least for this year, we have it covered.’”

“Over the years, there have been times where we weren’t sure how we were going to be able to afford St. Jude because we’ve had a variety of situations that have happened. Sometimes I’m working full time, sometimes part time. And my husband has had different jobs where he’s getting paid different amounts for those different jobs, and the amount of hours that he’s able to work at those jobs.”

“Currently, he’s gone back to school, so the scholarships have helped cushion our family financially and enabled us to keep that consistency in our children’s education despite financial ups and downs.”

“It’s so nice, and comforting, to know that there are people out there who want to help families like ours, and want to make sure that the next generation of kids get the education that is best suited to them.”

“This is a program that empowers donors to help those families, empowers parents to be able to give their children the education that they believe is best or they want to be able to provide for their family and empowers children with the tools that they’re going to need to accomplish their goals in the future and to reach goals and things that they may not be able to do if they don’t get that education, or if they don’t get the helping hand, the extra help that they may need inside and outside the classroom.”

“If I was talking to lawmakers about this program, I would tell them to look at all aspects of what this program actually has to offer and how it’s helping disadvantaged families who want to offer something for their kids.”

“We’re always looking for ways to help those who are disadvantaged or are a minority or not getting their fair share of something. This is a perfect way to provide that extra support through access to educational programs.”

Every parent wants to offer their children something better than they had, and tax credit scholarships might be the only way their child can get an education or a leg up.”

Sarah Tafoya
Producer, call screener, Relevant Radio
Joliet, Illinois