The sun shone bright on Sunday, September 13th for supporters of Angela’s House. Over 500 people lined the registration tables at 9:30am to participate in the 1st Annual 3K Applebee’s for Angela’s House Walk at the Holtsville Ecology Center.
The participants included many of the Angela’s House children who walked and rolled along with their parents, siblings, family, friends, nurses and other supporters. A local DJ and a live acoustic performance kept the crowd dancing, even after the mile-long walk. Balloon animals made by Ellis, the Funny Man and face painters kept the children entertained and a delicious lunch provided by Applebee’s satiated everyone’s appetites.
We walked to raise awareness about the limited options that children born and diagnosed as being medically frail, chronically ill or suffering from any type of life threatening condition(s) have as far as services available to help them when and/or if they leave the hospital. These children have medical conditions that often require intensive nursing care, and other services that, if are available, are very fragmented and difficult to coordinate. The daunting task of home care is extremely overwhelming, especially without an agency available to coordinate the services needed to support such child at home. Until Angela’s House, there were no local specialized homes or facilities available that could care for these children and their unique needs. The nearest facilities were often out of state, leaving families in a very difficult position – have their child in a setting where they would receive quality care and travel hours to see them, or place them in a non-age appropriate setting and have them close to home. These voids in the system make a horrifying situation even worse.
