Opening doors to families since 2018
Yellow Door was created to provide families hope, healing and togetherness while their child receives treatment for life-threatening illnesses.
When a child is diagnosed with cancer or requires an organ transplant, the entire family must shift away from the life they know in order to seek out the best treatments possible. This often means relocating the entire family for an extended period of time.
However, over 50% of families are unable to afford ANY type of long-term lodging away from home. When this happens, Yellow Door Foundation is there to help alleviate the emotional and financial burden by providing sanctuary lodging and family support for the duration of the family’s stay in Charlottesville completely free of charge.
A Home Away from Home
All of our apartment homes:
- Are fully furnished and equipped one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, specially designed to meet the unique medical requirements of children with compromised immune systems.
- Have access to the pool, a fitness center, children’s playroom, playground and business and meeting facilities
- Are conveniently located near University of Virginia Children’s hospital (3 miles) but a world away.
Our Story
JoAnne McTague, a 30-year resident of Charlottesville and a graduate of the University of Virginia, will tell you that she never envisioned starting a charitable foundation – it just happened. After working for more than 30 years in Corporate America, a chance conversation started her down the path to establish The Yellow Door Foundation.
JoAnne and her husband, Jeff, were rehabbing houses in Charlottesville when, over dinner in February 2017, a friend asked “Have you ever thought about making your houses available for families of pediatric cancer patients who are in town for extended periods of time?”
At her friend’s urging, JoAnne spent two months researching the need – speaking with Hospital personnel, cancer patients and their families, and countless providers of patient lodging across the country. Through her research, she discovered the largest gap was long-term lodging for immunocompromised pediatric patients, for whom communal living was not an ideal option.
Our First Family
At about the same time, JoAnne was introduced by future Board member Ann Marie Gathright to a little girl named Maggie and her mom Brooke from southwest Virginia. They were heading to Charlottesville for Maggie’s extended-stay outpatient treatment at UVA Children’s Hospital and had no place to stay. JoAnne and Jeff welcomed them to stay at their home.
They spent a lot of time together, including emergency hospital runs with Maggie. These interactions provided invaluable first-hand insight into the challenges these families face every day. From this association, The Yellow Door Foundation was born.
The Road to Yellow Door
JoAnne’s initial program considered single family detached homes, but the cost to purchase, manage and maintain the number of homes needed to fill the gap was cost prohibitive. Instead, JoAnne chose an apartment home model, which reduced the budget by 83%, provided additional amenities, and kept all lodging in a single, more manageable location.
The Yellow Door Foundation was founded in May 2017 and received its 501(c)3 charitable organization designation in November 2017. It opened its first Yellow Door apartment in February 2018. We now have 8 apartments, which have delivered over 8,220 nights of totally FREE lodging, ranging from a stay of 2 weeks to 11 months. Yellow Door kids receive cancer treatments as well as heart, kidney and liver transplants.
Why “Yellow Door”
While driving near the hospital one day, JoAnne saw a cute house with a red door, and thought of naming the charity Red Door, until she started looking into the meaning of colors! She chose Yellow Door after learning that yellow stands for “happiness, positivity, clarity, energy, optimism, enlightenment, remembrance, honor, loyalty, and joy.” The search for a name was over.
We are a proud member of the University of Virginia Children’s Hospital Housing Collaborative
In keeping with UVA’s focus on patient and family-centered care, four Charlottesville nonprofits have come together to ensure our families don’t have to worry about having a place to stay while their child receives extended care. Learn more
Thank You to Our Community Partners!
The mission of the Yellow Door Foundation could not be met without the commitment and support of our valued donors and partners of the foundation.
