My name is Jodie Sherwood. I live in Reedsburg Wisconsin with my Husband Jimmy Bishop. I am a nurse, mother, wife, sister, aunt, and mom to 3 fur babies—All titles I wear proudly. On August 8th, 2021 I gave birth to my beautiful baby boy, Miles James Bishop. We learned at 19 weeks in utero that his journey in this world would be a fight. Miles was diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). From that moment on I was given a new title, one that I would come to find I would be sharing with my son.

 

Fighter.

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The idea of motherhood that I had envisioned quickly changed. I spent those last 20 weeks of my pregnancy learning everything I possibly could about the battles that myself and my family would soon face. Instead of reading “What to Expect While You’re Expecting” I studied treatments, procedures, and surgeries that my baby boy would need. I wanted to be prepared to advocate for my son and his health. I had been a nurse for the last 17 years, this gave me a unique understanding of the path ahead. I knew that it would be difficult medically, but nothing could have prepared me for the financial difficulties and emotional distress that were about to crash down on our family.

 

I tried to prepare myself. I knew that this wouldn’t be easy. I’m a nurse and my husband has been at the same factory for the last 20 years. We weren’t rich, but we made an honest living and had medical insurance. I thought that this, along with some hard work and fundraising, would be enough to put my son through all of the necessary medical procedures.

 

It was not enough.

 

Through five heart surgeries, multiple ancillary surgeries, and endless hospital stays, I learned just how devastating ‘not enough’ could be. While soothing my baby as he lay in a hospital bed, I also had to figure out how to keep the lights on at home. While discussing medical decisions with doctors I was also deciding which bill could wait so we could pay the mortgage. At times, paying the phone bill to call for help felt pointless because that help was just as elusive as medical miracles. Watching my son fight for his life while the funds for his life-saving medical equipment ran out was a heartbreak beyond words. I pray every day that no mother, no family, ever has to endure that kind of pain.

The Mighty Miles Foundation was born on August 8, 2024. While I can no longer fight for my own son's life, I can fight for the families who are now facing the same battles we once did. Our mission is to provide the tools, funds, and resources that are not only desperately lacking, but frustratingly difficult to access.

Over the past three years, I’ve gained a deep understanding of the overwhelming challenges that come with caring for a sick child—while also managing the many other demands that accompany it. Advocating for a sick child requires parents to become as knowledgeable as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and dietitians. At the same time, you’re forced to navigate a maze of red tape, bureaucracy, and a confusing, often inadequate social welfare system.

Currently, families battling for their children's survival also face the challenge of navigating a complex system just to access basic information. Without this information, they don't even know what assistance is available to them or how to ask for the help they desperately need. The government assistance that you can currently receive forces you to lose everything you own before offering even the smallest relief. Grants come with rigid qualifiers and restrictions, requiring your sick child to fit into a neat box for approval—no cancer? No help. Does your baby have both kidney issues and heart disease? Disqualified. Need life-saving treatment out of state, but live in Wisconsin while the only doctors who can help are in Boston? Tough luck. And then there are the arbitrary deadlines, passing before you even know the aid exists.

 

The challenges and obstacles that parents of sick children face seem never-ending, and we're thrown into this situation without even knowing what we don’t know.

The Mighty Miles Foundation’s mission is to break down barriers and connect families with the care and assistance they deserve by offering financial support, vital resources, and a sense of compassion, kindness, and community. Our goal is to ensure that parents can focus on what truly matters—being there for their children. We step in as advocates, fighting for the families so they can concentrate on fighting for their child’s life.

At the heart of this foundation is a simple yet profound goal: to give families more time. Time to create memories, to hold their children close, and to experience the precious moments that should never be overshadowed by the stress of navigating a complicated healthcare system. We want parents to have the ability to be fully present, to cherish their roles as Mommy or Daddy, without the weight of overwhelming burdens. By easing their struggles, we want to give families the gift of more moments—moments that will stay with them forever.