The Children's Home

Each quarter, the 4moms Cares team, a group of 4moms employee volunteers, visits one of the many organizations where we provide product donations. This month, we had the honor of visiting The Children’s Home of Pittsburgh & Lemieux Family Center in Pittsburgh, PA (our hometown).

4moms Cares team members visit The Children's Home in Pittsburgh, PA.

As soon as we stepped through the door, we knew it was a special place. The receptionist warmly greeted us, and as we waited for Tara & Jen (the communications team & our tour guides), we noticed that she knew the name of every child that walked through the door and brought smiles to each of their little faces.

The Children’s Home of Pittsburgh offers three unique programs, which include Adoption, Child’s Way, a daycare for children with special medical needs, and a Pediatric Specialty Hospital.

It began in 1893 as an organization focused on caring for orphaned children and placing them in permanent homes. Nearly 125 years later, it is still facilitating adoptions, but our tour focused primarily on the day care and the Pediatric Specialty Hospital.

Child’s Way Day Care

The first stop on our tour of the facility was the Child’s Way Day Care. Bright and colorful rooms were filled with children with special medical needs, ranging in ages. Some children were in a circle, singing around a faux campfire, while others were listening intently to a story being read by a staff member. They also had a beautiful outdoor space with accessible swings & jungle gyms, lots of green space and even a garden that the children had planted.

Child’s Way offers an alternative or supplement to in-home nursing and therapy care for medically fragile children in a safe and educational environment.

The Pediatric Specialty Hospital

We spent the majority of our visit in the Pediatric Specialty Hospital and Lemieux Family Center. This incredible facility offers families a transitional setting between Neonatal Intensive Care and home. Their trained staff of pediatric professionals addresses the special medical needs of infants and children in a comfortable, home-like environment.

Families can learn how to care for newborn in a supervised setting, and adjust to taking care of a new baby – especially one with special medical needs. The Pediatric Specialty Hospital has 30 rooms, many with small living areas for the family, as well as the medical equipment needed for the infant. 4moms is proud to provide mamaRoos for each of these rooms – offering a comfortable and soothing place for these babies to rest.

We had the opportunity to meet with three families during our visit who were all so grateful for the services they had been given. Everyone spoke so highly of the staff and the great care their child was receiving.

The Lemieux Family Center

Adjacent to the Pediatric Specialty Hospital, you’ll find The Lemieux Family Center – an apartment-like living area where families of infants and children in the Pediatric Specialty Hospital can stay for as long as they need. Siblings of the infants and children also have a special area called Austin’s Playroom, where they can play and enjoy the comforts of home.

We can’t thank the wonderful people at The Children’s Home enough for allowing us to visit and including 4moms as a small part of the services they provide to children and families. It truly was a humbling and rewarding opportunity.

If you’d like to support The Children’s Home with a donation or your time, please visit their website here.