FOND DU LAC (NBC 26) — Nikki Williams of Fond du Lac has big dreams.
“I wanted to go back to school and become a nurse, and Pathway of Hope is helping me with that,” Williams said.
While working full time as a CNA and relying on a food bank for her meals, Williams is also in school full-time.
She was inspired to become a nurse after taking care of her sick grandmother.
“That's why I'm so passionate about the healthcare field,” Williams said. “My grandmother is the reason why I started this… why I fight so hard for my residents in the elderly like I do, because I've been in that situation before.”
But while Williams lives in Fond du Lac, her accelerated nursing school is in Illinois.
“Every day, Monday through Friday I travel 146 miles going, and 146 miles coming daily,” Williams said.
She is part of a program at the Fond du Lac Salvation Army called “Pathway of Hope.”
And last week, Pathway for Hope had a surprise for Williams—a $300 gift card for gas.
Williams has 15 more months left in her program, and she says she hopes she can inspire others to reach for their dreams— just like her grandmother inspired her.
“Every time I think about it, it just brings tears to my eyes to know that she is the reason why I'm fighting so hard today, why it doesn't bother me to take a trip from Wisconsin to Illinois every day, because you make sacrifices to complete your goals,” Williams said.
