Student Aid helps aspiring nurse get life back on track
Courtney looks beyond her setbacks to completing her education and fulfilling her career goals.
Courtney’s future was looking bright.
Living in Gig Harbor at the time, she enrolled in the “Running Start” high school program offering college courses for both college and high school credit.
“It’s an amazing program that I highly recommend for smart kids,” she said in a recent interview. “I almost completed my associate’s degree by the time I graduated high school.”
She became a hospital volunteer and discovered a passion for nursing.
“When I was 18, instead of being in high school, I was scrubbed up and standing in surgery, and the surgeon would show me what he was doing. It was super cool.”
But life happened.
Now 33, the Washington native has been through childbirth, marriage, divorce, multiple moves, a rape, separation from her daughter, two small businesses, a severe auto crash, poverty, and the need to jumpstart nurse’s training more than once.
After high school, Courtney earned certification as a CNA – a certified nursing assistant – and worked in an assisted living unit. “I loved that,” she said.
Then, at 23, she got pregnant. She married the child’s father, a Navy electrician’s mate, and moved as he was transferred, including a time in Hawaii where she operated a small business selling fabric.
Another transfer took the family to Idaho, where she fondly remembers starting an animal rescue operation.
Divorced in 2023, Courtney returned to the Gig Harbor area– with no money, no prospects -- and “went to my fallback, caregiving.” She found GHP FISH on Facebook.
“The FISH Food Bank provides me food when I need it,” she said. And FISH’s “little mini-thrift store [where clients shop at no charge] is fabulous. Oh, my gosh, when I was living in my car, they got me blankets, they got me a jacket, I got sweaters when I needed them. I just cried.” FISH also supported her healthcare studies, through its Student Aid program.
“In September 2023 Courtney contacted us for a little help to pay for her nursing assistant licensing, and we helped with that,” said volunteer Audrey Hartwig.
Courtney drove for DoorDash, but she was injured and her car was demolished in a collision. “That accident a year ago changed my life,” she said. A GoFundMe appeal brought in $1,700, which paid for another car.
Twice, GHP FISH has met Courtney’s need to pay nursing licensing fees, and Courtney helps by referring clients and donating back clothes she no longer needs.
“I’m giving it back to the place that literally saved my life,” she said.
After Tacoma Community College, Courtney plans a transfer to Bates Technical College this fall to earn her Licensed Practical Nurse certification—progress toward her ultimate goal of becoming an RN.
“I’m fighting like hell to get my life back on track, get myself right,” Courtney said. “I’ve been through a lot of trauma, but I’m a survivor. I’m a statistic, but I’m not going to let that be what defines me.”
That “kind of brings out the mother in me when I worry about her,” Audrey observed. “She’s struggling and there are a lot more like her—it’s a tough world out there. She’s striving to get out of whatever hole she’s in and, bless her heart, she’s doing her very best.”
The GHP FISH Student Aid program helps more than two dozen clients in academic or vocational study. Several have earned associate degrees, one went on to medical school, and one has obtained a master’s degree.
Courtney “has a soft spot in my heart, I can tell you that,” Audrey said.
“But all of them do.”