Her Story
About Courtney
I founded my nonprofit in 2023 after my husband Matthew, who was in the NFL, passed away. I found that there's nothing really out there for widows with young children - no support, no acknowledgement. So I decided to start this organization to send widows and their children to NFL experiences. We call them our NFL experiences and we go all out - we ask them a little something about them, so some get passes on the field to meet players, and everything is on us. They get merch for the day, parking passes, fantastic seats with indoor access, either a suite or club access. It's a day of joy where they don't have to think about money or anything. On top of that, we do college scholarships for children of widows because a lot of widows lose health insurance and their house, so the last thing on their mind is saving for college for their kids. Kids shouldn't not be able to go to college because their father passes away. I also pushed forward to get New Jersey to become the first state to recognize National Widows Day, which is June 23rd, based on the United Nations designation. I wrote a business plan, which I had never done before, applied for a pro bono attorney and got him, and then just worked my butt off. I kind of do it on my own without mentors. I'm super involved volunteering within my community and still well connected within the NFL community and my husband's friends who all worked with him.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Courtney
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my twins. I have to keep going because I'm still a mom. After you bury your husband, you go back to life literally the next day. Unfortunately, it doesn't give you the space to stop. I have to make sure they're okay because the best way to honor my husband is to raise them to be healthy, happy, adventurous, and not dwell on this - that's not honoring him if we all fall apart. They just turned 13, and I navigated middle school all by myself, which is terrifying. I don't even understand the math! But they're going to graduate in two weeks, and I feel like I'm graduating because it was so hard.
02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think funding is the biggest challenge. We are so blessed to have so many donors give for our events, things that we can raffle off, and the NFL teams that we've worked with so far have been so generous - some will donate tickets, some will donate merch. But outside of that, just nailing down that one big donor is shocking because everyone has a mother, so you have to feel loved that way. You came from somewhere. But nailing down those donors, I've heard men say 'well, that's not really at the top of my thing right now, I want to, you know, I'm not really worried about that right now,' and I'm like, that's so disheartening because you have a mother, and then half the time I'm talking to a dad. It's just so hurtful when they say that's not really on their radar. I'm having a hard time getting through to those big funders.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
My values are awareness, kindness, and humor. By awareness, I mean you never know what somebody else is walking through. They have all their life together, and then something happens, and all of a sudden you're a 180. It's scary, it's terrifying. When you become a widow, they say it's the most stressful life event anybody could have because of all the secondary losses, which means my future goals got taken away. Besides health insurance and money and stuff like that, you just lose your identity, which is so sad.
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