Almost homeless, now helping other kids with cancer
Jillian Miller is just 5 years old, but she's learned a lot about the good and bad in life.
If you've been an Indianapolis Star reader for a few years, you might remember the Miller family, who lived in a Northeastside motel for months, one step away from homelessness.
Star reporter Robert King wrote a series of stories about Josh and Jennifer Miller and how they were struggling to keep their family together even as their situation became more and more desperate.
The Millers and their four kids were cooped up in a small, pay-by-the-week motel room at Christmastime in 2010, but at least they were together. Star readers were moved to help, showering them with cash, gifts and offers of assistance.
"Jilly" was just a baby then, but life was about to get a lot harder for her. Shortly after the family moved into a rental home -- thanks to the goodness of a stranger -- she was diagnosed with leukemia at age 2.
Jennifer Miller will never forget that day. It was two days before Christmas 2011, and the family was eager to start over and confident their luck had changed.
The next two years were a blur of doctor visits and hospital stays.
"When you're going through it, you can't see the end," Miller said.
Jilly is in remission now, but you can see the toll that 800 days of chemotherapy have taken. She has neurological damage caused by seizures, her mom said, as well as orthopedic issues in her legs and feet and difficulty mastering fine motor skills.
"But she's a happy girl," Miller said. Jilly goes for blood checks every two months at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital at St. Vincent. And she starts kindergarten in the fall.
On Saturday, Jilly and her family will have the chance to give back a little of the love they have received. Josh, Jennifer, Jacob, Jessika, Jencyn and Jilly will be selling lemonade in front of their house on the Near Northside. Not to help themselves, but to help other kids with cancer.
The Millers have been selected as Indiana's Hero Family for a national nonprofit dedicated to finding cures for pediatric cancer. One family in each state was honored as part of Alex's Lemonade Days, a weekend set aside each year to raise money in the name of Alexandra Scott.
While fighting neuroblastoma, 8-year-old Alexandra of Philadelphia decided she wanted to have a lemonade stand to raise money to help kids like her. As her little idea grew, she challenged supporters to raise $1 million for the cause. She saw that goal achieved before she died in 2004.
To date, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation has raised more than $100 million to fund 475 research projects nationally.
The Millers have a modest goal for their lemonade stand. Just $100, which will be donated to the foundation. But that small amount represents a lot of hope and gratitude.
"We want her to realize what she has gone through, and what her brother and sisters have gone through," Miller said, adding that it's their way as a family to give back, something she tries to teach her kids after so much has been given to them.
"That time in the motel was horrible, but at the same time, it was an awesome experience. I had lost all hope in people, and that totally changed everything for us."
The Millers still struggle financially; Josh has worked as a seasonal laborer but now stays home with the children, while Jennifer works part-time jobs.
"This has been a lot on our family," said Jennifer. "And we still have a lot going on, but you have to keep moving. For us, there's no other option."
The Millers would be happy to pour you a cup of lemonade Saturday. Their stand will be open rain or shine from 1 to 5 p.m. at 737 E. 22nd St.
If you can't get there, but you'd like to donate to Jilly's page (all funds go to Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation), visit www.alexslemonade.org/mypage/1122714.
Call Star reporter Maureen Gilmer at (317) 444-6879. Follow her on Twitter: @MaureenCGilmer.
