2020 Giving Back Recipient

The pediatric ICU is a place that no family ever hopes to visit.  However, at Children's we are honored to provide the critical care - that pediatric patients depend on - in an ICU environment that supports the whole family.  Our hospitals are built around the idea that children are not simply small adults - that's our Pediatric Differential. Our Specially trained staff includes Chaplains, Social Workers, Child Life Specialist and even Canine Therapy Dogs on top of our talented clinic team members.

Beyond this, with the generosity of community members like yourself, we have established the PICU Patient Family Fund.  This fund allows us to provide developmentally appropriate toys to patients in an effort to normalize the hospital environment, provide opportunities for choices and control, distract from the routines of hospitalization, as well as foster growth and development and promote positive coping.  Through this fund, we also provide occasional meals for our families, toiletry bags during their stay, and anything that lightens their load while they are in the PICU.  To help our patients, this fund can additionally provide mobility and comfort care items, such as MamaRoos, mobiles, and Zaky hands which provide therapeutic measures to infants while they recover.

Families often find themselves in the ICU with their children during off and unexpected hours, when healthy snacks and meals can be hard to come by.  On top of that, caregivers tend to think of themselves last when their child is unwell.  With additional funds, our PICU team could provide (and regularly stock) at Hospitality Cart using the Patient Family Fund.  The cart would provide healthy comfort food to families during their time in the PICU, allowing them to maintain their own health without leaving their child.

Our staff loves to be able to care and provide for our critically ill patients and their families.  Often when patients come to us it is during a time of crisis and completely alters the family's daily life.  The importance of providing them a sense of normalcy, encouraging nourishment, and easing their burdens cannot be overstated.  We are forever grateful to the friends who come along side us to bless our patients and their families.

Thank you for your generosity of spirit.

Haley Woods ID Development Officer & Donor Advisor

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation