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Esther's Friends has been fortunate to serve over 5,000 pediatric inpatients throughout Chicagoland. This often overlooked, and underserved community has been so appreciative of the critical support provided. Read below to see highlights from our hospital partners, showcasing the real-life impact Esther's Friends has on these children and families' lives.
“The invaluable services funded through Esther’s Friends' generosity provide essential practical support to both children and their families, helping them to navigate the many challenges that families face while their child receives treatment. When a child is facing prolonged treatment for a serious medical condition, many families experience significant financial hardship. Even those that have full medical insurance coverage can spend a large portion of their income on co-payments, travel, housing, meals, and other uncovered items."
“Carlos and Maria recently immigrated to the United States with their daughter, Olivia, to find better medical care for their child who has an underlying condition. Carlos immigrated first with Olivia leaving the mother behind to follow soon. Olivia was in the PICU for months and was critically ill. The dad was living with family in the suburbs and traveled a long distance to and from the city to be with his daughter every day. The cost of parking was quickly becoming a burden for the family. Esther’s Friends parking pass was provided to Carlos to be used for several months, making it easier for Carlos to be where he was needed. When the mother was able to immigrate to be with her family, Carlos and Maria were [able] to be by Olivia’s side as she passed. The parking pass…allowed Olivia’s family to spend precious moments with her until her final moments.”
“The parking passes benefited one of our families greatly. This patient is here for a huge surgery and long recovery. The caregiver’s work is not flexible on allowing the caregiver to call off. The parking passes have allowed the caregiver to go back and forth from work to the hospital. She can now easily park and be here as much as possible for her daughter without stressing about the high fees. This donation has helped so many parents focus on their children’s medical experiences and coping, while eliminating extra stressors.”
“One mother became tearful when looking at the items in the comfort care kit and stated, ‘It really is the little things that make a big difference.’ The comfort care kits do just that- provide comfort during the most difficult times.”
"I gave a patient a comfort care kit and that was the first time I saw her smile since being on the unit. My patient will not even walk the halls without gripping that bag. LOOK! She is actually playing! She gets to just be a kid again.”
“The iPads continue to be a huge help. The iPads donated by Esther's Friends are the only iPads that we have and are used every day by our patients. We have gone from having zero iPads for our inpatients to having four. One of our 4-year-old patients has been using one of the iPads to help himself remain calm during IV placements. He hooks the iPad up to a speaker and encourages all the staff to dance to Trolls music as he gets his IV placed. He has also been using the iPad to use the Aflac duck app and physical duck to help the duck "feel better" and learn about various medications, procedures, and processing emotions.”
“We have absolutely loved having age specific comfort care kits. It has been incredibly challenging to find infant and toddler appropriate toys for our pediatric patients. The Esther's Friends Kits have been absolutely critical in meeting the developmental needs of our long-term infant and toddler patients. Patients, parents, and staff all love the kits that help kids stay calm, happy, and regulated.”
“The parking passes recently helped a family whose 3-year-old daughter was admitted for 25 days with sepsis and fluid in her lungs. She needed a chest tube and frequent tests and procedures. Mother and father were able to switch off staying with her while also balancing staying with their other young kids at home. Because of the passes and help from Esther’s Friends, she never had a moment without a parent by her side.”
“Many of these children live at a lower standard of living and owning books is not a luxury their families have. There are studies that report that having books in the household can lead to children more likely being lifelong readers, better students and more likely to finish high school, so [i]t has been wonderful to be able to encourage literacy with children and their families and follow that up with an offer of books. Thank you for being supportive of the important goal of getting books in the hands of children!”
“The books, iPads, and comfort care kits have all been a HUGE help this year. As a department without a budget, these are all items that make such a difference for our patients that we couldn't otherwise afford."
“A patient was in the PICU alone. I brought in an Esther's Friend comfort care kit full of activities. This patient was beaming as she pulled each item out and would let out a shriek of excitement. Once she emptied the bag, she and I began doing an arts and crafts activity from the bag. As staff began rounding on this patient, the patient screamed ‘this is better than Disney World!’ The whole medical team began laughing, and it felt like the hospital environment melted away for that moment in time.”
“I had dropped off a comfort care kit to a family and they stated ‘This was such a great idea. You never realize how important having stuff like this is until you have a kid in the hospital. We were not expecting to be here this long, and these items have been so helpful.’”
“We recently had a 3-year-old patient stuck here for asthma. He was here over 5 days, really struggling with his breathing treatments and being stuck in his room. Mother was feeling very defeated and overwhelmed trying to support him during this long admission. They finally thought they were going home, just to find out the plans changed and he had to go back on oxygen. This was not a good day since they found out their stay had to continue even longer. I brought in the parking pass and mom started crying and said she was so grateful for this help during this overwhelming time.”
“One of our youngest patients has been in the PICU for several months, receiving care for multiple complex diagnoses. He has undergone several surgeries, including a liver transplant. After the transplant, he is now in recovery and working towards the goal of being discharged, but this process may take several more months, and requires his family to be present at the hospital to learn how to manage his ongoing care and participate in discharge planning. The family is facing significant financial strain as both parents are currently unemployed and rely on support from extended family and SNAP benefits. [T]hey are deeply grateful for the parking pass that helps them stay together during this time of need.”
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