CHC 2024 Annual Recap

2023: OUR YEAR OF GOOD. CLEAN. FUN.®

Dear friends,

The past year was a big one for the Children’s Healing Center – it has been a year of change, growth and, of course, fun.

We’re delighted to have celebrated two groundbreakings this year, tangible signs of the progress we are making to break through the barriers of isolation and loneliness for children experiencing complex medical diagnoses and their families. After years of planning and hard work, we are finally making our dreams of serving families across the state a reality by opening our second location in Southeast Michigan, allowing us to bring the healing power of play to even more families.

We also are making strides to better serve our members in West Michigan with a new, larger facility that will help us continue to provide impactful programming and a safe space for members and their loved ones.

In 2023, we also made a concentrated effort to expand our behavioral health programming recognizing a complex medical diagnosis impacts the whole family’s mental and emotional health. To provide even further support to the whole family, we began integrating weekly parent support opportunities into our schedule which nearly doubled our behavioral health focused offerings and has resulted in positive impacts on social isolation, feelings of loneliness and quality of life. We look forward to continuing to provide measurable data to support this fact and using that information to advocate for our members.

This past year, we revised our strategic plan on how we operate as an excellent statewide organization with the goal of

improving affordable access to Good. Clean. Fun.® for all.

We have spent more than eight years developing our model and refining our expertise in psychosocial healing. The impact that the Center and our programming has on many psychosocial factors for our members, including social isolation, loneliness and overall mental health, is clear. We look forward to continuing to provide measurable data to support this fact and using that information to advocate for our members.

I also look forward to all that is to come for the Center and our members in 2024. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being part of our effort to bring the healing power of play to more families.

In Play,

Amanda Barbour Founder & CEO

The doctors fixed my heart, Children’s Healing Center fills my heart.”

MADISON

Now Landing in Southeast Michigan

The Healing Power of Play

We are bringing our proven model of care to Southeast Michigan with our second location in Ypsilanti Township! Strong local interest, a robust philanthropic culture and access to world-class medical institutions played a key role in selecting the Ann Arbor area for our first expansion.

Since the beginning, it has been our dream to open another center so even more families can experience the healing power of play. After eight years of refining our model and building strong statewide support, we are making that dream a reality.

Our new space will be located on South Huron Street north of the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office. Construction is underway and we are on-track to open our doors in the summer of 2024.

The new location is being built

from the ground up and designed to provide as close to a germ-free environment as possible. The 11,000 square foot building will have different zones, with plans to include areas for exploratory play, active fitness and art, plus dedicated spaces for teens, young adults and parents.

Just like our West Michigan location, the Southeast Center will serve as a YES zone for the whole family, providing an opportunity for children with complex medical diagnoses and their families to leave worries at the door. There will be programs for children and parents alike to offer connection, healing and play for all ages.

As we work to continue developing relationships and recognition in Southeast Michigan, the Center hosted several pop-up events with community partners, including

story times at the Ypsilanti District Library, a pottery workshop and exploring the Critter House at Leslie Science & Nature Center and a clay sculpting workshop at Ann Arbor Art Center.

Riverside Arts Center in Ypsilanti hosted a unique event for our families and a special guest, Beverly Meyer, The Music Lady. Their team did an incredible job ensuring the space was sanitized and safe. Members experienced a mix of music, movement and sing-along favorites –capturing the imagination and attention of the whole family.

We are proud to share we have raised 94% of our $6.5 million campaign. If you are interested in helping us reach 100% of our goal, there are still opportunities for leadership and community-supported gifts.

It’s hard to believe it’s been eight years since we established ourselves as the nation’s first recreational facility for kids with weakened immune systems and their families. Since then, we have grown to serve more than 600 families. We have proven we provide not only a place for our members to play, but to heal.

When we opened the doors to our physical space in 2015, we knew our current location likely wouldn’t be our last. Over the past eight years, we have experienced tremendous growth which has created some logistical challenges in our current space. While we’ve been good stewards of our Fulton Street location, we have simply exhausted its limitations.

It is now essential for us to create a new home that allows us to better serve our members and provide the health outcomes we strive to achieve.

After an intentional search for an ideal location, we purchased a building for our new home. The site is easily accessible off the East

Beltline – nestled alongside Calvin University’s nature preserve.

The building has been undergoing significant renovations to become the high-quality and hospital grade facility our members have come to rely on. The new space will feature a half gym, community café, parent lounge and expanded spaces to accommodate more programming. This larger facility will allow us to tailor areas to better meet the needs of our members, while improving accessibility, efficiency and flow.

The families and kids who visit our Center have already found more than one million minutes of play in our squeaky-clean space – and we’re ready to provide a million more in our new home for healing.

We continue to have giving opportunities to the project, with 82% of our $8.5 million campaign currently raised.

VIBRANT VOLUNTEERS

SARAH BISHOP

85 months | 150+ programs

24,871 MINUTES

AMY STORNANT

76 months | 150+ programs

30,257 MINUTES

“It brings me joy to know that I can help create a fun environment for our members to feel seen and explore their creativity. My favorite part of volunteering is seeing those kids leave with a smile on their face. Children’s Healing Center is truly one of a kind, and I’m thankful to be a part of the mission.”

DADS + DAUGHTERS GO TO HOLLYWOOD

In November, we rolled out the red carpet and hosted more than 30 dads and daughters for a Night in Hollywood. The fun and fancy evening included dancing, activities and more.

“The children touch my heart and teach me something every week. It’s amazing to be a part of a community that lets children be children no matter where they are in their development or treatment. To be able to play and socialize in a germ-free environment is an incredible concept.”

KITCHEN COLLABS WITH COREWELL HEALTH

In partnership with The Family Kitchen Team at Corewell Health Lifestyle Medicine, we provided a hands-on five-week cooking series that highlighted healthy eating habits and basic cooking skills. Families received 15 hours of nutrition-based education and got a fun opportunity to collaborate in the kitchen.

RELAX, RENEW + RECONNECT

We also helped our member mothers and caregivers connect with themselves though a relaxing spa night. In partnership with our friends at Beautiful You by Profile, we provided an evening of much needed pampering, complete with massages, henna tattoos, manicures and more.

2023 was filled with fun, impactful programs for the Little Tots University (LTU), our preschool focused on serving children ages 2.5 to 5 years old.

Once a month, our partners at the Forest Hills Public Schools

American Sign Language Department join LTU to teach our preschoolers a variety of signs. LTU staff integrate these signs into songs, games and daily interactions to reinforce what the little tots learned. Sign language helps our youngest members find new ways to communicate and express themselves,

while improving fine motor and language skills and fostering cognitive development.

LTU is also helping members build communication skills to support their social and emotional health. Students enter the classroom and indicate how they’re feeling using a visual emotions chart. This practice helps staff and volunteers meet members where they are at and provide individualized care. It also helps our youngest members to learn, identify and understand their feelings, and communicate their range of emotions.

ANOTHER AMAZING YEAR

We did some good work

1,616 hours of experience received by 9 interns

6,440 volunteer hours ($193,000 value)

$6.7 million

Funds raised for WM Capital Campaign

$2.5 million Funds raised for SE Capital Campaign

And our members had A LOT of FUN

$231,000 Program grant & foundation funding secured

$156,000 Private business donations accepted

378,722 Minutes of Play

OF GOOD. CLEAN. FUN.®

This past year, 321 members completed psychosocial surveys, including parents, qualifying members and siblings, about their experience since joining the Center.

Here’s what we found:

& 4 out of 5 kids say they feel healthier & 90%+ of parents said their child has a better quality of life and better mood

& 85%+ of parents shared the Center helped their child make friends, feel less lonely and less stressed & 100% of qualifying members said they have a better quality of life, better mood, make friends and feel less lonely and less stressed

Early findings show benefits extend to siblings of qualifying members, who reported feeling less depressed and having more friendships

What members are saying about the healing power

of play!

“The thing that I love the most about the Center is that it is about the kids here, but it’s also about the parents.”

“Being able to connect with other parents who understand is literally a needed lifeline.”

“Our family felt less alone. It is a terrible situation made better by knowing the CHC is full of families who know what it is like to have a medically complex child. My son loves to play with kids who understand what it is like to go through treatment and procedures.”