FLIPPABLE: Hilary Koch for ME-SD16
Through two different upbringings, Hilary learned the value of a good education and the value of the dollar. Her mother battled medical challenges and was grateful for food stamps and neighbors who shared their hunting meat in the winter. Her father, a Vietnam veteran, worked hard to make sure his children could see the world and would never have to worry about the cost of college. Most importantly, both parents instilled the beliefs that no matter their circumstance, there was always room at their dinner table for another person, and that helping others was a responsibility and a blessing.
From teaching literacy to adults, to working with children in the foster care system, to helping people suffering from opioid addiction, Hilary has carried out the lessons her parents taught her. She began her professional life as a teacher, working with students at all levels of education from Pre-K through college. She encouraged every student to analyze problems critically and to "think globally but act locally." Consequently, she engaged students in community outreach and service programs, including outdoor education programs aimed at teaching students to respect our earth, raising money for the local homeless shelter, and serving food in a soup kitchen. Hilary believes that communities can thrive when we identify problems and work together to solve them.
Hilary’s experiences as a caregiver for her youngest son, who was diagnosed with hydrocephalus at the age of 6 months and type 1 diabetes at the age of 2 ½ years, and later also for her grandfather, led her to advocate for legislation that provides everyone with access to quality and affordable healthcare and prescription drugs. For more than a decade, she has been a “pancreas” for her son, learning not only how to care for his medical needs, but also how to fight to get the care, the medicine and the supplies to keep him alive. In 2016, frustrated by the lack of advances in medical technology, Koch joined a worldwide open-source medical project in order to build an artificial pancreas system for her son.
Hilary is a resident of Waterville where she lives with her husband, her 99-year-old grandfather, a retired Methodist minister, and her two sons who attend Waterville public schools. She earned her master’s degree from The Pennsylvania State University and her bachelor’s from Kenyon College, Ohio. Hilary was elected to the Waterville Charter Commission, works as a volunteer for Operation HOPE (Heroin Opiate Prevention Effort) in the Waterville Police Department, and she sings in her church choir.
https://hilarykoch.mainecandidate.com
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