If These Walls Could Talk
Tommy’s Place
Opened in 2023
Tommy’s Place was made possible by a generous anonymous gift and is named in memory of Thomas Shade, a Yellow Door child who fought recurrent osteosarcoma for close to four years before passing away on November 30, 2022. During his four year battle, Tommy and his grandparents and mom stayed in four of our apartments during three separate treatments for close to a total of 700 days. We will always remember his mischievous grin and the sense of humor he was able to carry even on his hardest days. He is greatly missed.
Since opening its doors, Tommy’s House has served as the home of 5 families. It is thoughtfully decorated to reflect Tommy’s love of the Eagles football team, the UVA Basketball team and video games. Nestled at the end of a quiet street, next the The Nest, it looks out over a walking path and wooded area offering families a peaceful place to be together.
Current Resident
Kyler
In Febraury 2025 we welcomed little Kyler.
Kyler was born with Tetrology of Fallot, which is a rare condition caused by a combination of four congenital heart defects. Kyler received surgery to fix his heart and stayed in at UVA Children’s hospital while his parents stayed nearby at Tommy’s Place. He loved pulling on his leads in the NICU so much so that nurses gave him a speical octopus stuffed toy to encourage him to pull on its legs rather than his leads. He could not be tricked however! We are hopeful this spunky little guy will be reunited with his parents soon.