The CHF Family House Need
We touch lives, empower families, and fight back against serious childhood illness.
Why is the CHF Family House Needed?
There is an unknown second side of life-threatening pediatric illnesses — and at CHF, we feel called to help. The financial and emotional burdens families face while their loved one undergoes treatment are often overlooked.
Because treatment regimes can be very long, parents can be taken away from their hometowns and their jobs. Job loss is more common in these cases than we like to think about. Once job loss occurs, household bills start piling up, which makes it hard to cover necessities, such out-of-town lodging during treatment.
Don’t the hospitals provide lodging during treatment and follow-up appointments?
Not always. Here are six specific reasons why:
Location
If families live within 75 miles from the hospital where their child is in treatment, they may not qualify for hospital housing. Families living in financial distress may find the cost of gas to go to the hospital for treatments, even on a temporary basis, can quickly become overwhelming.
Accessibility
Some homes are not readily safe for a patient to return to. The family needs time to make their home ADA compliant with ramps or other accessibility needs.
Marital Status
Some parents are not married or have separate families. Alternative housing could prove beneficial to allow parents that live outside the home to be present and participate in their child’s care and treatment.
Transitional Housing
Families often need transitional housing. Housing ends when patients don’t have an appointment for 7 or more days. Then, they only have 24 hours to vacate hospital housing once their qualifications end. Some families need more time for travel arrangements or to re-establish housing they lost during their extended treatment time at the hospital.
Large Families
Hospital housing allows only a certain number of family members in the housing unit. Some families are larger with multiple siblings. Families are often required to separate, with one parent staying behind at home to care for siblings because they cannot live together in Memphis under capacity restraints.
COVID-19 Pandemic
Hospitals have restricted the number of people who are allowed to see a patient. In most cases, only one parent is allowed inside, leaving the other parent, siblings, and additional loved ones unable to see their brave young patient. The CHF Family House offers a place for families to safely gather with their patient and spend cozy quality time together. Click to hear one family's story.