ABOUT THE PAIGE FOUNDATION
The PAIGE Foundation provides birth moms with assistance
and support while educating the public about the gift of adoption
and the birthmom’s role in the adoption triangle.
LIFE IS PRECIOUS
Our goal is to empower women to make informed and educated decisions so there will be fewer unexpected pregnancies and better outcomes of unexpected pregnancies. By achieving these goals there will be less poverty, more opportunities for people to achieve their life goals, fewer abortions and stronger families. Because every life matters.
Why We Started the PAIGE Foundation
The PAIGE Foundation (Pregnancy-Adoption-Information-Guidance-Education) is a non-profit foundation that was started to carry on the dream of Norton High School graduate and US Air Force Airman, Paige Renee Villers. While a senior at Norton High School, Paige found herself pregnant and was faced with some difficult decisions. Considering her age and what she wanted to provide for her son, she made the painful but loving decision to make an adoption plan for her son to give him everything she wanted him to have but was not able to provide at that time. Three days after graduating from high school, her precious son was born and three days later she placed him in the arms of his mom and dad. Soon after, Paige joined the US Air Force with the dream that she would make her family and her son proud, and that she would seek out an education to be prepared to help young women in her same situation. Paige was never able to see her dream to fruition. She died August 7, 2007 while serving in the Air Force. But her family and friends took her dream as their own and started the PAIGE Foundation. The Foundation serves birth moms with assistance and support throughout their journey. They also work to educate the public about the gift of adoption and the role the birth mom has in the adoption triangle.
We Believe
Any woman who is sexually active runs the risk of unplanned pregnancy.
Educating young women of potential consequences and possible options is necessary.
Any woman who becomes pregnant has serious life decisions to make.
Often, people make bad decisions because of ignorance, lack of education, and misinformation.
Every decision a woman makes about her pregnancy will not only affect her life forever
but many other peoples’ lives as well.
If a person has intelligent and accurate information, loving guidance and support, and proper education
she will make wiser decisions.
The “Adoption Triangle” is the three-sided relationship that exists in an adoption between birth parents, adoptive parents and the adoptee, each of which is interrelated and inter-dependent on the others.
There is hope for future generations with your help.
The PAIGE Foundation is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charity and all donations are tax deductible. Our promise is that with all funds and resources that we raise we will allocate wisely and responsibly.
While a senior in high school and two weeks before her 18th birthday, Paige Renee Villers discovered that she was pregnant. This news created concerns and questions to our family. What would happen now? Would Paige finish school? Would she keep the baby? Raise the baby? What kind of future would Paige and the precious new life growing in her have? There were so many overwhelming thoughts and questions. We didn’t know where to begin to find the answers.
When our emotions settled down a bit, we started researching our options. Paige knew one thing for sure – life begins at conception and abortion was out of the question. From the moment she knew she was pregnant her heart swelled with love for this little life inside of her. But we still had questions and concerns. We took one day at a time and asked God for direction.
Paige was determined to graduate from high school and receive her diploma. This wasn’t easy to accomplish while pregnant. In addition to typical pregnancy issues, she faced some tough attitudes from her peers towards her consideration of adoption. Every day was a challenge for Paige. But her strong spirit and passion for life gave her the ability to hold her head up high and carry on with determination and dignity. While she successfully completed her senior year of high school, she spent that time thinking, praying, talking, and seeking wisdom about the decision she needed to make that was best for this little person she loved so much. She wanted to keep her baby more than anything and be his mommy but she knew she wanted more for him than what she was capable of giving him at that time in her life. She decided there was one way to provide the kind of life she desired for him.
As Paige walked across the graduation stage to receive her diploma on June 6, 2006 with her head held high and a smile on her face she was hiding the pain in her heart of the painful decision she had made. Three days later she delivered into this world the love of her life. Knowing that in three days she would be placing her heart into the hands of someone else to take care of for her, she clung to every breathing moment of his life. Then the most painful day of Paige’s life came when she carefully and lovingly placed her son in the arms of someone else.
As painful as it was, Paige knew she had made the right decision. She sacrificed her heart so that her son could have the life that she desired for him. And yet, despite the sorrow she felt, she didn’t give up. She was determined to do something incredible with her life so that, hopefully, one day, her son could be proud of her.
Paige informed us she made the choice to join the US Air Force. She told us that she had already met with a recruiter. In October, with her dad at her side, she went back to the recruiter and signed up. She said she made the decision to do this so her life would mean something. She wanted to bring honor to herself, her family, and to her son. Paige also had respect and love for her country. While serving, she hoped to get an education and training so she could be prepared to help other young women who found themselves in the same situation as herself. Paige wanted to provide support and education for other young, pregnant women so they would know their options and not make decisions based on fear and misinformation.
Paige left for basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas on March 13, 2007. She was doing well at training and excited about all she was learning and doing. She had accomplished all of the requirements to graduate as an Airman. However, she had gotten sick during this time and her health rapidly declined. On May 16th, 2007, we received a phone call from Paige that she was rushed to the ER at Wilford Hall Medical Center on the base. Shortly after, we received a phone call from the doctor that he didn’t believe Paige would make it through the night. Paige’s mom and aunt took the first flight they could get to San Antonio and found Paige had survived the night but was in a coma. She had a very rare virus that caused her pneumonia and the pneumonia had ravaged a good portion of her lungs. The next several weeks were touch and go with her life. Then we received a miracle on June 21, 2007, when her medical team went beyond all normal measures to save her life and she was able to be brought out of the coma. We had our Paige back!
Despite the incredible trauma Paige had endured she was determined to remain in the Air Force and continue on with her goals. Paige graduated from the United States Air Force on July 22nd, 2007 and she was the youngest airman to receive the Air Force Achievement Medal, a military award presented to Air Force personnel for outstanding achievement or meritorious service rendered specifically on behalf of the Air Force.
Two days after graduation, a second rare and traumatic event hit Paige when she had a seizure. Doctors finally determined that she was experiencing demyelination – in which her nervous system was being attacked by her immune system that had previously fought so hard against the virus. We watched as her life hung in the balance for the next two weeks when on August 7, 2007, she went home with the Lord.
Paige’s family and friends have tried to pick up the pieces and go on without her while she has remained our inspiration. It is her passionate spirit and love of family and friends that have encouraged us to remain strong and live life as she would have wanted us to live. Paige was extremely passionate about everything she did and about everyone she loved. She was an encourager and motivator. She lived and loved deeply. Paige is our hero because she always held her head up and accepted the consequences of her decisions. She did everything in her power to make things right because she deeply loved and cared for the life God had entrusted her with, even if just for a short time.
Because of who Paige was on this earth, her family and friends carry on her desire to help young women be all they can be; to help them love themselves and be proud of who they are so they can make confident and wise decisions. If someone makes a decision that doesn’t turn out well, we want them to know it’s not the end of hope for their life. This is why there is the PAIGE Foundation.
If you would like to learn more about Paige’s military story please check out this PDF.
