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Dream House is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization making it possible for medically complex children to live at home, instead of a hospital or nursing home.

NURTURE THE DREAM

The Dream House Story:
Searching for Answers

Laura had a theory, but needed data to back it up. During the summer of 2001, working with her employer Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Laura Moore analyzed data for 17 pediatric inpatients from local area hospitals, each with lengths of stay greater than six months. Why were these children institutionalized instead of living at home?

The Numbers Did Not Add Up...
Laura compared gross charges with net revenue for each child in the study. Charges totaled more than $20 million, yet net revenue was only $8.6 million. Potential revenue loss was over $11 million. Millions of dollars spent on what? These children were still institutionalized, with apparently no place to go. No plan existed to address this unprecedented situation.

The children in this study were representative of scores Laura, herself, had cared for over the years - children who suffered, were lonely, scared and emotionally barren. Healthcare staff turnover was consistenly high, faced with the hopeless situations their patients experienced. From a business perspective, this was a losing proposition from every angle.

Dream House Story: Beginnings, Ugly Reality, Searching for Answers, Dream Pursuit.

Medically fragile children need friends and playful memories of childhood, not scary nightmares of equipment and procedures.

Like every other child, medically fragile children need adults to be their advocates, to help them set goals and plans for the future.

You can give a medically fragile child the chance to experience what it’s like to be a member of a loving family. Learn How