Chapel Hill woman helps house families of kids in need of life-saving treatment

CHAPEL HILL N.C. (WTVD) -- Your votes helped a Chapel Hill woman win $10,000 to help families that come to the Triangle seeking treatment for a child battling a life-threatening illness.

Elise Herman is the founder of Super Cooper's Little Red Wagon Foundation, an organization that houses families in need that seek treatment for their kids at UNC and Duke hospitals.

In an ABC11 Together effort, we asked you to vote for her in a national contest last May and she won.

Watch the original story here.

Herman said the money is going to go a long way in housing families, as it costs the foundation $8,000 to provide housing, food, and the special cleaning services the families require for one apartment for six to eight weeks.

"Ultimately, that $10,000 helps to secure an apartment for a family during one of their stays," Herman explained.

"When we spoke to you last, we actually had four apartments, and we've been lucky enough to add one more in the Chapel Hill area and one more in Durham," Herman added.

Kelly Twiggs and her 2-year-old daughter Billie are from Goldsboro, NC. They're one of the families staying at the apartments.

"We couldn't be more grateful for what they've done," Twiggs said. "They've allowed us to have a sense of normalcy that is so often lost when you're battling a disease."

Twiggs said her daughter Billie suffers from Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis, an immunodeficiency disorder, and that she recently had a bone marrow transplant.

She said she needs to be close to UNC's hospital for her daughter's cell treatment and that the housing provided by Super Cooper's Little Red Wagon Foundation helps her do that.

"It's hard to find the courage to get up in the morning and face what your child is dealing with, but on good days there's hope. There's always hope," Twiggs said.

Hermain said she's working on opening up more apartments to help families in need, find temporary housing, near cancer hospitals around the nation.

If you want to help Super Cooper's Little Red Wagon Foundation raise funds, to help continue housing families, you can show your support at their next fundraising event, the Rockin' Run 5K & Family Fun Festival.

Click here to register for the run.

Click here for an event line-up of the festival.

Rockin' Run 5K & Family Fun Festival

October 3, at 1:00 p.m.

Southern Village in Chapel Hill