Our First Yellow Door Family Pays a Visit
Little Maggie, her mom Brooke and grandma Traci stayed with us last week, while Maggie underwent additional therapy. Brooke and Maggie were an impetus for the creation of the Yellow Door Foundation. Their frequent, long and tiring road trips from the Bristol area of Virginia to UVA Children’s Hospital required a safe place to call home while in Charlottesville, and Executive Director JoAnne McTague was happy to provide such an environment at her home.
JoAnne asked “how widespread is this issue?” After much research, she determined there was indeed a pressing need for long-term lodging for families of children being treated at the hospital. She created the foundation to address the issue. Yellow Door now has three furnished apartments at Stone Creek Village that provide family lodging for as long as the child is being treated at UVA. So far in 2018, nine families have been served, with another family moving in next week!
Maggie’s grandma Traci works for the Virginia Oil & Gas Association (VOGA). Earlier this year, at one of their gatherings, they conducted a 50/50 raffle. With the encouragement of YDF “Ambassador” and VOGA member Ann Marie Gathright, the firm decided to donate their portion of the raffle to the Yellow Door Foundation. The winner of the raffle, Debbie Orrison, also donated her $3,000 winnings to Yellow Door!
VOGA has become a big supporter of the Yellow Door mission, and plan to have Executive Director JoAnne McTague speak at their next conference. We are grateful for their support.
Thanks Ladies!
Volunteers Karen Viar and Susan Hodus joined board member Kathy Woodson in getting a jump on addressing Christmas cards. If you have not already done so, please send us your mailing address. We cannot send your Christmas card without it!
Happy Thanksgiving!
A sincere thanks to everyone who has made Yellow Door a success, through some incredibly tough times!