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From
The Times of Trenton:
During Project Freedom's 25th anniversary party last month, Timika Cheek (pictured) received the Robin G. Heim Award for overcoming barriers to achieving her goals. For Cheek, the journey to this award was a ten-year struggle.
Cheek (pictured) admits that when she moved into Project Freedom in Robbinsville she was troubled by the doubts of others.
"My family, my DDD caseworker and the people I was living with doubted that I could live independently," said Cheek, who had been living in a Skills Development Home funded by the NJ Division of Developmental Disabilities for five years before moving into Project Freedom at 23.
"They tried to discourage me. They wanted me to stay because they felt I wasn't ready," said Cheek.
She described her life before Project Freedom as being "50-50" in terms of meeting her needs. The biggest problem for Cheek, who has cerebral palsy and uses a power wheelchair, was that the home was not wheelchair accessible.
"The woman I lived with was very supportive in many ways," Cheek said, "but I couldn't come and go as I wanted because the place had steps."
While moving into Project Freedom gave Cheek more accessibility and freedom, the anger and animosity she felt toward those who doubted her had both positive and negative affects in adjusting to her independence.
"It made me more determined to show them," Cheek said, "but anger can cause people to make bad decisions."
Cheek also had to deal with severe physical pain from a fall injury. Yet she credits this pain for helping her to get stronger and turn her life around.
"Once I learned to tolerate my physical pain, I could also tolerate the other stuff and redirect my anger," said Cheek. "It made me stronger and better able to cope."
Norman Smith, associate executive director of Project Freedom, is the guardian of the Robin G. Heim Award and of the memory of the man it honors. He said selecting Cheek for the award this year was an easy choice for him.
"The Heim Award was created to honor the desire for self-improvement and empowerment exhibited by a young man who was battling demons of self-doubt, depression and physical disability," said Smith.
"Robin wanted to turn his life around, and he became a volunteer who worked himself into employment with Project Freedom just before his death."
"Timika had a reputation for getting involved with stuff and not seeing it through," continued Smith, "but not this year. This year she stepped up three times to help others."
Cheek took in a neighbor's children twice when the neighbor was hospitalized, which is a big commitment for someone living in an efficiency apartment.
Cheek also pitched in with Project Freedom's annual 50-50 raffle because sales were lagging. She soldmore than 600 tickets.
"My favorite example of stepping up is when Timika took the training to join the Mercer Community Emergency Response Team," Smith said.
"She had nine weeks of training, passed three online tests, passed the hands-on test and graduated with us in September prepared to help her neighbors in emergencies. Now that's commitment."
From The Times of Trenton:
