Ashley specializes in cardiac telemetry (left) and recently graduated from nursing school with her family there to celebrate (right).

When You Believe in a Single Mom’s Potential, She Will Break the Generational Chains of Poverty

Ashley loves the human heart. Everything about it amazes her, even after almost a decade working on the cardiac unit at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center.

There were times in Ashley’s life when she wouldn’t have pictured herself here. “I didn’t have the best life growing up and struggled through abuse and poverty,” Ashley says. “I spent time in foster care; my dad went to prison. I remember only owning two pairs of jeans.”

Ashley found herself a single mother in 2010. “I left my alcoholic husband, carrying our lives in four suitcases,” she says. With two boys ages one and three, she moved back to Cheyenne and was trying to get by as a waitress when she attended a Climb Wyoming information meeting for an upcoming Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) training.

“My whole life and outlook changed because of this program. I am proof that anything is possible and to never give up on your dreams. I may not have had the best life growing up, but with the right love, support, and perseverance you can accomplish anything and break generational chains.”

– Ashley

“Climb helped me with parenting and financial education, individual and group therapy, along with encouragement and support. I grew as a person and a mother,” Ashley recalls.

Climb staff worked closely with Ashley to learn about her passions and talents and guided her into telemetry, a field that uses advanced technology to monitor the heart’s electrical patterns. She’s been doing this work as a CNA ever since and last year sent Climb an invitation to attend her graduation from nursing school. She’s now a registered nurse.

“My son was crying with me up on stage,” Ashley says, recalling how proud her kids were at the ceremony. They were young when she finished Climb and have seen her working her way up in the medical field for most of their lives. “I thank Climb with my whole being for giving me this push in the right direction and holding me up when I was down.”