341 Erkenbrecher Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45229
Family Performance and Activities Series
Grant Application:
The Family
Performance and Activity Series was developed to give our guest families a
reprieve from the overwhelming stress they face dealing with a seriously ill
child, knowing that families need a physical and mental break from the time
they must spend at the hospital. This program provides a much-needed lift to
our guest families. Activities range from puppeteers and musicians to game and
movie nights. We have also added mental and emotional wellness components such
as yoga and art therapy to the program. Such activities and performances help
alleviate stress, giving families the opportunity to spend quality time
together not focusing on health issues, and stimulate positive, hopeful
feelings. We are now able to offer activities on a regular basis in spite of
limitations due to COVID-19. The performers, artists and activity leaders are
paid as well as volunteers.
Goals/Objectives:
Our Performance and Activity Series launched in 2002 with the original goal of bringing our Family Theater space to life. With the expansion of our House, now able to serve 177 families all at once, the capacity of the theater limits the types of activities we can hold in the space. And though we will continue to host magic and puppet shows, as well as visits from Cincinnati Zoo and Newport Aquarium animals and other activities in the Family Theater, the program now warrants we expand to other areas of our House.
Through our programming, our House strives to provide our guest families with opportunities to de-stress, and to have moments of respite. In fact, we hope that 90% of guest families will credit their stay at our House, along with access to the services we offer with a reduction in the stress they feel. Thus far, in 2022, 99% of families report a reduction in stress because of their ability to stay with us. In addition to a reduction in stress, our goal for the Family Performance and Activities Series is to enrich the lives of the patient-child, their parents, siblings and any extended family that may be present to assist in the child’s care. The objectives of the program include:
• Providing ill children and their families with special programming which helps to alleviate stress;
• Enabling the quality of the performances and activities to be high due to the availability of honorariums;
• Giving the opportunity for family quality time together (not focused on the illness of the affected child) and stimulating the peer-to-peer support fostered by sharing a common arts or activity experience with others;
• Highlighting Cincinnati talent to guest families from our local area as well as across the United States and around the world.
In addition, we are expanding the program to include wellness components to help promote mental and emotional well-being. These additional components include Art and Music Therapy lead by professionals in this growing field. Further, in an effort to be an inclusive House, where everyone feels welcome, we have begun recognizing holidays and awareness months. So far this year we are pleased to offer activities around Black History and Women’s History months as well as St. Patrick’s Day and other nationally recognized holidays.
We hope to provide a variety of performances and activities to engage families and children with a variety of ages and backgrounds. In 2021, we housed 2,924 individuals. So far in 2022 we have served 3,603 individuals. We hope that as the number of people living in our House increases so will families’ participation in the various performance and activity offerings. We expect that at least 30% of families living in our House will participate in each offering.
Grant Evaluation Report:
Taking care of families and their seriously ill or hospitalized children is at the heart of what we do and requires us to be innovative. Our diverse population of families are from all over the country and world. We want to be creative, flexible and inclusive with the activities and services we offer. A key objective of our program is to help reduce the stress under which families find themselves, having to deal with the serious illness of a child for weeks, months or even years. Through our Family Performance, Wellness and Activities Program, we strive to provide families with meaningful outlets for them to find moments of joy and respite,
Over the past 12 months, we have successfully provided families with a variety of activities. Most activities provide interactive entertainment (Comedy Sportz Improv, Ijo Ujo Drum and Dance) and others offer opportunities for emotional expression and mental well-being (yoga, massage, art therapy).
We gave families opportunities to relax. We gave them an outlet from being overwhelmed by the stress of dealing with their children’s illnesses and gave them some solace and a chance to exhale, thereby creating a pathway to better health outcomes. We believe the various activities we offer such as art/music therapy, yoga and massage for example, have given families alternative ways to cope with stress and provided them with a reprieve from the chronic strain under which they find themselves.
In addition to many volunteer-lead activities such as Therapy Pets, Circle of Caregivers, Family Fun Night and others, we have invested in paid activities such as yoga, Pones Dance Troop, horticultural therapy and others that we hope have lasting impacts on our families’ overall well-being. For example, we hope the benefit of participation in our horticultural therapy activity will be an enhanced self-image; development of the ability to accomplish something; an opportunity for problem solving and an opportunity to just have fun.
Some of the other interactive activities we offered to help improve families’ well-being include Star Glazers; Cardio Kickboxing; Ukelele lessons, Yoga, Massage; Haircuts; Taft Art Museum; Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra (They bring in artists for varying events. One of which was a listen and learn with two artists. Most recently there were two artists playing music while the families drew and colored to the music). Through their engagement with the Pones Dance Troop, participants have experienced the therapeutic benefits of the arts through dance. The act of dance and mindful movement has supported mental health, emotional healing, and physical wellness for participants.
Offering families stress-relieving activities has been important to ensuring families are cared for and supported during their healthcare journey.
Results:
Through our Family Performance, Wellness and Activities Program, we are pleased to have been able to provide families with the opportunity to spend quality time together outside of the hospital. In 2022 we offered a total of 378 activities to families. We are grateful to have had 303 of those activities donated. Thus far in 2023 we have provided 417 activities of which 327 have been donated.
One of our objectives for this program has been to incorporate more wellness components to our repertoire of activities. We feel that families can benefit from activities that may improve their emotional well-being. Our Art Therapy and Horticultural Therapy activities are great examples of this effort and have been well attended and are family favorites. In addition, families have really enjoyed and appreciated Star Glazers which allows them to express themselves in a creative way and have a keepsake to document their experience.
In 2022, 2,082 families lived in our House. We estimate that approximately 30% of families participate in the various activities we offer. Therefore, approximately 3,000 individuals were impacted through their participation in our program.
According to our guest satisfaction survey 97% of families are satisfied with the activities our House provides. When asked how their stay at our House with access to all of our programs and services impacted their stress levels, 98% of families state they were less stressed than before they first arrived. We hope that some of this reduction in stress can be attributed to the activities we offer.
Families repeatedly comment on how grateful they are for the House and our programs. We know the activities we provide allow families to take a break from their child’s diagnosis and just be a family. One mom commented. “We feel truly welcome here and have everything here to make this feel as close to home as possible. The activities and playrooms for the children are so amazing and have been a welcome distraction for our son while we’ve been here.”