Yajaira Perez couldn’t stop smiling when she discovered she won $5,000 A Week for 20 Years on a The Good Life instant lottery ticket. “Once I realized I won, all I could think about was that now I would be able to fulfill my dream of creating a rehabilitation center for battered women and children.”

Perez, 27, is originally from Puerto Rico and is married with two children. She moved to Chicago at the age of 17 and has been working for a public elementary school ever since. “Being around children all the time and learning about so many families in need makes me want to make a difference in my community.” Perez’s passion to work with children led her to enroll in evening classes to become a teacher upon obtaining her degree.

In addition to fulfilling her dream of establishing a safe haven for abused women and children, the lucky Oak Park resident also plans to share with her family, invest for retirement, and open a college savings account for her children. “I can achieve so much with this lottery win. My husband and I feel extremely blessed.” Her advice for other lottery players is, “Be grateful and try to give back in some way.”

The winning ticket was purchased at 7-Eleven, 6440 West Diversey Avenue in Oak Park. For selling the winning ticket, 7-Eleven will receive a bonus of $52,000, equal to 1 percent of the prize amount. The Good Life tickets are available at four different price points–$1, $2, $5 and $10 with respective top prizes of $1,000, $2,000, $5,000 and $10,000 a week for 20 years.