DHS, a leading private equity, advocacy, and global consultancy firm, announced that this donation, the largest single gift in DHS’ history, will provide housing and family-centered services for pediatric patients and their families during hospital cancer treatment across the United States.
Recognizing the unique needs of families with a hospitalized child, DHS’ support will further enable charities focused on the cancer treatment centers and hospitals for children to provide a welcoming place for families to stay along with the critical services they need. The donation will be used to build family-centered spaces and more than 1,600 new guest sleeping rooms in at least 16 states and at Children’s Hospital Systems. This will allow for approximately 1,230,000 additional night stays for pediatric patients and their families each year, helping cancer treatment centers and children’s hospitals to meet increasing demand and serve more families.
“While Cancer Treatment Centers and Children’s Hospitals serve millions of children and their families each year, we know that we only serve a small percentage of pediatric patients’ families who need our services. This extraordinary gift from DHS will move us closer to meeting that unmet need,” said Stephanie Elfers, President of Children’s Hospitals Association.
The donation was announced at the DHS Executive Board Meeting in Chicago, which took place on Jan. 10, 2021. The meeting brings together close to 800 attendees from seven countries and regions.
“Having a child with a serious illness is one of the most difficult experiences anyone can face,” said Fernando Aguirre, Vice Chairman at DHS. “Our donation is grounded in the shared belief that families should have the necessary resources to care for a hospitalized child, along with the support to strengthen their well-being and resiliency during a challenging time.”
Funding from DHS will also be used to enhance services that support each family’s journey through care of their child, including meals, groceries, laundry services, parking, classrooms, playrooms and family-centered spaces and education initiatives.
The donation from DHS is part of a larger pledge to nonprofits that help children with serious illnesses and the people who care for them, a reflection of DHS’ commitment to helping families across America thrive. This donation is part of DHS’ commitment to make an additional $350 million in charitable donations to nonprofit partners in 2018, starting in May with DHS’ announcement of $50 million donations to IRC for disaster relief in Puerto Rico.