Self-Care Kits for Caregivers
With the amazing support of many community members, we were able to gift the parents and caregivers of UVA's cardio unit with homemade tote bags STUFFED with GOODIES!
Earlier this year, we met with UVA's cardiology social workers who shared with us that they have noticed a significant decrease in the mental and physical well-being of the caregivers who have to be inpatient for a long period of time.
This decline, of course, is concerning. We know that if caregivers are able to take care of themselves during hospitalizations, they can be better advocates for their children. So, for this past Valentine's Day, we teamed up with some awesome folks to fill self-care kits with tools and treats to help their in-patient caregivers nourish themselves and feel a bit more human during their child's hospital stay.
Volunteers from Cville Craft Aid put together (and on quite a quick timeline, we must add!) home-sewn heat/cool packs to include in the totes that their previous volunteers had made. Community members and past guests purchased other items from our wish list--such as sleep masks, earbuds, phone chargers, snacks, and more! Cville Sock Love donated the softest, coziest Valentine's socks for us to include in the bags. Bloomaker included gorgeous waxed amaryllis bulbs for the families so they could have fresh blooms in their child's room! And our local Wegmans provided us with a gift card to purchase additional snacks for families.
We delivered 25 bags, stuffed full of hospital survival essentials, plus some additional snacks and care items for the social workers to have on hand for future families. One of our guest families was on the receiving end of the care totes and was incredibly appreciative for the supportive surprise.
We are endlessly humbled and appreciative of how our LilyPads community is able to rally around families that are going through scary times! A huge thank you to everyone involved!
If you'd like to join our volunteer list or learn about opportunities to support our programming, please send us an email at maggie@lilypadshousing.org!
