Cherie Boyd was born in Union City, Tennessee. Cherie relocated to Ann Arbor, Michigan at a young age with her Mother and two sisters. Cherie graduated from Ann Arbor Huron High School in 1987. She attended Washtenaw Community College but then decided to take a career in the Travel Industry. She attended an Travel Agency Trade School and graduated with a certificate of completion. Cherie began immediately working at Alamo Rent A Car and a small Travel Agency in Romulus Michigan.
In 1993 Cherie relocated to Georgia and began a career in Property Management. Cherie worked for great companies such as Community Living Concepts, Inc. and Julian LeCraw, Inc.
In 1997, Cherie’s highschool sweetheart Steve Boyd proposed and they were married on June 12, 1998. That same year, their lives would never be the same! They had their first child named "Chance" Chance weighed a mere 2 pounds 1oz. You could hold him in the palm of your hand. Cherie and Steve knew their lives would take a dramatic change. Chance would later be diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of 11 months.
Cherie became a stay at home mom while Steve worked for Mayfield Dairy Farms. They were introduce to all types of doctors and specialist: Eye Doctors, P.T., O.T., Speech pathologist and a host of other people to provide early intervention for Chance.
In May 2000 Cherie and Steve had their 2nd child name Myles who was diagnosed with ADHD in 2006. In September 2001, they had a beatiful baby girl name Sontai-Blu. She also had to deal with medical issues but is now doing just fine.
In March 2003, Chance was given the opportunity to participate in state-of-the-art 28-day intensive therapy program at Euromed Rehabilitation Center in Mielno, Poland. While in pursuit of raising money needed to cover the trip and the treatment, (which are not covered by insurance companies), his family, friends and community began the long and challenging journey of raising funds to cover the treatment. Thanks to the help of generous contributions Chance Boyd traveled to Mielno, Poland to receive treatment from Euromed Rehabilitation Center. His treatment was a success and he came back walking up to 10 steps independently without assistance.
The Second Chance Fund was inspired by Chance Boyd. They began their crusade in 2003 they officially became a non-profit project of the National Heritage Foundation on October 27. 2003 the same year to provide financial resources to help low to middle-income families acquire non-traditional medical treatments and techniques being offered worldwide but not covered by most insurance companies. Today the SCF has impacted the community by providing not only financial assistance for treatment but several inclusion programs in education, creative expressions (through art, dance and music) social enhancement and spiritual inspiration for exceptional children. The SCF philosophy is to treat the whole child.
Hobbies: Cherie is a member of the Rehoboth Baptist Church in Dekalb, GA. She is active in the community (Parent support for persons with Disabilities), She enjoys running, and being creative.
Educational Goals: Cherie is a graduate of Gwinnett Technical College Commercial Photography program with an Associates in Applied Science and certificate in Digital Imaging. Currently attending Georgia State University in their BA Interdisciplinary BIS program (Major: Media Entrepreneurship).