Lily Calvert Foundation funds family accommodation at Very Special Kids

The Lily Calvert Foundation provided a grant of $10,000 to fund parent and family accommodation at Very Special Kids supporting families to stay on site while their child receives care.

Parents accessing respite or end of life care programs and services are understandably anxious and nervous to hand over the care of their child while the parents and the rest of the family have some respite.  For many parents, they have been the sole carers of their child. Which also means many parents (and any siblings) have not had a break from the 24/7 care requirements of a child with a life-threatening illness.

Over the past 12 months Very Special Kids have been very active in encouraging parents who want respite but find it extremely hard to hand over the care of their child, to stay in our free-of-charge (to families) family accommodation while their child stays in our hospice. The Lily Calvert Foundation funding of $10,000 helps this to remain cost neutral for families.

This provides parents with the opportunity to come and go from our hospice whenever they’d like as well as the opportunity for parents to get to know the hospice management team and the nurses / carers in the hospice. It also provides the opportunity for nurses to have in-person contact with the parents if they have any questions about the child during their stay.

When families stay in the family accommodation, they are offered the opportunity to participate – alongside their brother / sister / child – in Music Therapy, Art Therapy and Child Life Therapy.

This provides a beautiful opportunity for the child, parents and any siblings to spend time together creating Art / Music / fun activities and games through Child Life Therapy.

It also provides the opportunity for siblings and parents to engage activities designed to be therapeutic and fun.

Thank you to our donors for the extremely generous funding to enable us to support family accommodation and honour Lily’s memory.