Alumna Discovers Long Reach of Wake Forest Family

This summer as Helen Jugovic (’06) and her dog struggled out of her apartment into more than two feet of swiftly-rising water, she never dreamed that three years after graduating, the arms of Wake Forest would be among the first to reach out to help her.

Late one night while driving to meet a client, Jugovic, managing attorney of the Wilmington office of McKinney & Justice, was caught in a sudden, torrential rain. The storm turned her back, and a few blocks from her and her boyfriend’s apartment, the wet road suddenly became a river. She managed to pull the car over, get out, and walk to her apartment.

When she arrived, Jugovic found her dog, who was recovering from an injury, standing in an inch of sludge-like water. “I thought my instincts would kick in, but I was in shock and didn’t know what to do. Everything was happening so fast.”

After failing to reach her boyfriend who was on his way back from an out-of-town job, she turned to friend and former law school classmate Tripp Coyne (’05). “Tripp just snapped into action. He told me to grab some clothes to sleep in and get out and that he would pick me up a couple of blocks away.”

Within minutes, eight inches of water were in the apartment, and two feet had risen outside. Jugovic and her dog made it to where Coyne picked them up. “I don’t know what we would have done without Tripp. He put me, Mike and the dog up that night at his place.”

The next day brought devastating news. Her car was totaled; their apartment condemned, and as they tried to salvage some of their belongings, looters stole what they had stacked outside. “We lost everything but some clothes hanging in our closets, a table, a television, a damaged dresser and a few of Mike’s tools.”

Usually in situations like this, people turn to their families for support, but Jugovic had none nearby. “My parents live in Europe, my sister is in Colorado Springs, and since I’m still fairly new to Wilmington, I didn’t have a big network.”

But, Jugovic had underestimated the long reach of her Wake Forest family.

Margaret Taylor, professor of law at Wake Forest, had taught Jugovic, and their mutual interest in immigration law developed into a friendship that extended beyond graduation. When Taylor learned about Jugovic’s plight, she wanted to help and immediately turned to her colleagues, many of whom also taught or knew Jugovic, for their assistance.

“I knew Helen’s parents had returned to their homeland of Croatia after she graduated from college,” said Taylor, “and although her actual family was far away, her law school family wanted to show its concern, and the generosity was overwhelming.” “The faculty and staff of the law school collected cash, gift cards, furniture, lamps, household items and care packages, and since the flood, many of them have also continued to encourage Jugovic through cards, emails and calls.

“When Margaret told me about the gifts, it was like they reached out and actually touched me and said, ‘We’re your family. It’s going to be okay,’” said Jugovic. “I didn’t realize the emotional toll losing everything could have on you, especially when you still have huge school loans to pay off, but they knew.”

Jugovic says her boyfriend, who went to a large state school, could not believe Wake Forest’s response. “He just looked at me and asked, ‘Are you related to these people?’”

Jugovic laughed. “It sounds cliché, but from day one, you really are part of the family.” Among her many experiences with the tight-knit Deacon community, she recalled her first week of law school. “I was deathly ill trying to buy my books when Lisa Brace (‘05) took my shopping basket and replaced the books I had in it with used ones and then sat me down for the first of many sessions I would have with her over the next three years on surviving law school. The amazing thing was she wasn’t even my assigned mentor.”

With the gifts Jugovic received after the flood, she was able to make a down payment to purchase a used vehicle and begin setting up their new apartment, which, coincidentally, is now located on Deacon Lane.

“Words can’t express how thankful I am. Every day I drive a car I was able to get with the money they gave me, and when I turn on Deacon Lane, I look up at that sign and think about how fortunate I am. I wouldn’t have any of this without Wake Forest.”

-- By Pam Barrett