A Homewood mentorship group organized a special early Christmas celebration for 9-year-old Zoey Jones and her family, surprising the girl as she continues recovering from brain surgery tied to complications from sickle cell anemia. The gathering brought gifts and a monetary gift to a family that has spent much of this year focused on Zoey's health.
According to WVTM13, the Homewood mentorship group behind the celebration is the Rich Girl Mentorship Program, founded by Richeryl Hill, which supports girls ages 10 to 18. Hill said she first learned about Zoey's situation through the family's online fundraising effort when Zoey had surgery, and the program later raised money specifically to ease Zoey's recovery and bring joy to her family.
Hill said the event was designed to bring joy and gifts to the whole family, not just Zoey, including a monetary gift meant to help ease some of the burden the Joneses have been carrying. Gifts went to everyone in the household, the station's report notes, with Zoey receiving her own presents alongside the financial gift to the family.
A Years-Long Health Battle
Zoey was diagnosed with the most severe form of sickle cell anemia at just three months old, and her life since then has revolved around hospital visits and blood transfusions, per the same account from WVTM13. In August, she underwent brain surgery to address limited blood flow to her brain caused by complications from the disease, a condition WVTM13 had earlier reported was tied to Moyamoya disease. Her mother, Erin, said at the time that the five-hour procedure went well.
Following the surgery, Zoey was expected to spend several months recovering, during which she would be homeschooled before gradually returning to her normal routine, the earlier WVTM13 report said. The early Christmas celebration appears to have arrived in the middle of that long recovery window.
A Family Fundraiser Behind the Scenes
Separate from the mentorship program's efforts, a GoFundMe page describes a fundraiser organized for Zoey by Cathy Johnson. That page states that the family has worried about how to pay bills, crushing medical debt, and even the possibility of homelessness tied to Zoey's medical problems, according to the fundraiser's own description. Those claims come directly from the fundraising page and have not been independently verified beyond what organizers have posted there.
Sickle cell disease carries serious risks for children beyond the daily grind of pain crises and transfusions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that sickled cells can block blood flow to the brain, and that about 10% of children with the disease will experience a symptomatic stroke — general context on the condition, not a specific finding about Zoey's case.
For now, Zoey's recovery continues in Homewood, with a community mentorship program stepping in to make one stretch of a difficult year a little brighter for her and her family.
