Meet the Kimms, a beautiful, young family in Carlisle, Ohio, with an unbelievable story of ups and downs.
“2024 has not been our year,” said Sarah Kimm, mom of 4-year-old Loxley, and eight-month-old twins Ace and Alba. “What we had hoped to be an exciting year has been nothing but back-to-back heartache and stress.” 
Sarah and her husband, Tadd, were thrilled to welcome their two precious babies into the world in December 2023. However, because the twins were seven weeks early, they suffered health issues that required a long stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). In addition to the emotional toll that took, the Kimms began accumulating large hospital bills.
The family was elated the day they were finally able to bring their babies home from the hospital, but just one week later, Sarah herself ended up in the emergency department with chest pain. The doctors discovered she had cardiac issues, in addition to needing her gallbladder removed. This only increased the hospital bills that were piling up, and as Sarah said, “put even more stress and strain on our hearts and wallet.”
A glimmer of hope that life was getting back on track was seen in May as Sarah proudly got to walk across the stage for her graduation from Northern Kentucky University for her MBA. This was certainly no easy feat as Sarah works both a full-time job during the day and a part-time job in the nighttime hours.
Once again however, tragedy was soon to follow. Just two weeks later, husband Tadd was hospitalized with severe stomach and back pain, which ultimately led to his appendix being removed and exploratory surgery on his stomach and gallbladder. Bills, bills, and more bills.
As if the emotional rollercoaster had not dipped low enough, the family’s beloved cat Luna passed away from unknown causes on July 3. Then, just two days later, Tadd was in an accident that totaled his car. Thankfully he was OK, but as one can imagine, this only added to the family’s overall stress and tightness of budgets.
The final blow came just 10 days later when the Kimms came home to find that they didn’t have any running water. This is when they also found out that the previous owners had built the addition to the home on top of the well, which was sure to make this fix more challenging. They tried having the well pump primed, but that didn’t work. Since the pump was running but wasn’t retaining pressure, they believed the issue to be with the well and the valve within the well.
“After much googling and research, we were fortunate enough to meet the Yeager Well Drilling & Pumps' team. They were nothing but amazing. They helped us feel supported and cared for during this tough time,” Sarah said.
While looking out for the family’s best interest, Yeager Well Drilling & Pumps in Hamilton, Ohio, recommended drilling a new well. Knowing the Kimms' story and expense of a new well, the company reached out to NGWA, asking to partner up to grant a much-needed Water Well Wish.
Fast forward to August 2024 and the Kimms are in fact getting back on track. Sarah and Tadd have recovered, all three children are healthy, the car has been replaced, and their new well is providing them with safe, clean, running water.
“Water Well Wish has taken a huge amount of stress off our shoulders," Sarah said. "Our babies deserve to have a home with running water, and thanks to this grant, we are finally finding stable ground. We are incredibly grateful!”
This is the fifth well that Water Well Wish has completed in 2024 and 12 total in the program's history. There are three more wells to come soon. Click here to learn more about the Groundwater Foundation's Water Well Wish.