Almost
Home does not receive provincial
or federal government funds to
operate.
"Volunteers make up 85 percent
of the total hours required to
keep all services operating."
Approximately $280,000 per year
is needed
On average, these children must
stay in hospital for 26 days per
year.
English
More About Almost Home
Comments from a parent -
If Almost Home were not available, my daughter would
have to stay in hospital. Here, we can live as a family
while she receives treatment as an outpatient and
at times as a patient in hospital. Before Almost Home
opened, I stayed at the hospital where I had several
sleepless nights to the point of exhaustion. Sometimes
I had to leave her there alone. We find the home terrific.
My daughter looks forward to her stay in Almost Home
because it has all the comforts of home with no hospital
confinement.
The child's illness plunges parents into a strange
and confusing new life of medical concerns. Repeated
trips to the hospital for days or weeks at a time
typically means one parent quitting their job. They
worry about how the child will get over the next hurdle.
Brothers and sisters often feel left out as the parents
struggle to support their child in the hospital while
maintaining routines at home. Almost Home allows families
to stay together during these times of stress. Almost
Home offers a number of small areas where parents
can talk with other parents who are facing the same
trials and worries.
Each month, Kingston General Hospital and
Hotel Dieu Hospital provide treatment for
about 100 children with serious, complex,
or chronic medical problems.
On average, these children must stay in hospital
for 26 days per year. Many must wait months
or even years before knowing the comfort and
security of home.
Until "going home day" families
have plenty of worries... the recovery of
their child is foremost of course, but there's
also the strain of bedside "shifts",
finding and paying for meals in an unfamiliar
city, costs for parking and gas, loss of income,
exhaustion, child care for siblings, disruption
of family life, divisive pressures on marriages,
and serious psychological strain on siblings.
Almost Home will
help ease these intense stresses.
Coordinating the support services and operating
a large home, requires time and money. Approximately
$280,000 per year is needed.
Almost Home is helped by volunteers who contribute
hundreds of hours per week in housekeeping,
management, programme planning, fundraising
and board work. The families who stay at Almost
Home contribute by cleaning, laundering their
own linen, supporting other families and other
household chores.
Almost Home does not receive provincial or
federal government funds to operate.
Your
help is needed to make this service possible.
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Title
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"Almost
Home gave us the comfort and hope
that one day we'd all be going
home - and today it came true."
"My daughter looks forward
to her stay."
"So
that's what we've been going through.
It's been a terrifying strain
on us all."
Until "going
home day" families have
plenty of worries
