Rickie Milbourn was born into a family of drug addiction, alcoholism, and abuse. What saved her life was her strength, optimism, and will to make sure she lived the life that she deserved. When her possibilities looked limited, she found a happy place in Nashville.
Her hometown of Aberdeen, Washington is where she lived with her drug addict mother and alcoholic and abusive father until she found her way out. Her mom was on whatever type of narcotics she could find, and her father was never concerned with Rickie or her siblings’ well beings. One night in particular, Rickie was forced to drink alcohol by her father and after passing out and waking up the next morning, found herself covered in bruises and suspected she had been abused. Her family pretended it didn’t happen. On top of that, Rickie was involved in more physical abuse at a 2008 New Year’s Eve party. She had had enough, so she contacted her best friends’ aunt, and relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, leaving the rest of her family behind.
She came to Nashville looking to start over, and she got that then when she was welcomed into a family of seven children that had reached out to her through the church she began attending. A very religious family, Rickie began to participate in daily church activities, as well as got a job and focused harder on school. Now a graduate of Middle College High School, she had a great high school career in athletics and excelled in the classroom.
Rickie’s teachers will tell you that she is never one to feel sorry for herself, and actually takes the role of a leader among her peers. Rickie is expected to do very well with Philanthropy as her major in college because of her life experiences and her knowledge of how to take the high road in tough situations.
