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WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 11, 2008) - A critical illness can
stretch any family emotionally and financially, but when the
patient is a child, the potential stresses are even greater.
The Believe In Tomorrow National Children's Foundation is
helping ease those burdens. It provides, free of charge, hospital
and retreat housing, as well as support services to children facing
life-threatening illnesses and their families, and it offers
priority to military families.
"Our programs prioritize U.S. military families who have
children being treated for life-threatening illnesses," Brian
Morrison, founder and president of the foundation, said. "We
believe in keeping families together during a child's medical
crisis and that the gentle cadence of normal family life has a
powerful influence on the healing process."
Founded in 1982, the foundation developed the concept for the
first pediatric retreat facilities in the country, Morrison said.
Since then, the Believe In Tomorrow National Children's Foundation
has provided more than 300,000 overnight accommodations to
families.
The foundation offers six retreat facilities. All are near the
Atlantic Ocean or in the mountains of Maryland and North
Carolina.
Two houses opening this year, the Believe In Tomorrow House at
Pinnacle Falls in North Carolina, and the Believe In Tomorrow House
on the Bay in Maryland, are for use by military families
exclusively as part of the foundation's military housing
initiative, Morrison said.
"(The) retreat housing provides families with the opportunity to
escape from the stressful routine of medical treatments," he said.
"Families are encouraged to use our retreat facilities on an
ongoing basis, free of charge, to renew themselves mentally and
physically while spending quality time together."
The foundation's two major hospital housing facilities are
located in Baltimore near the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. Both
provide extended stay options for families.
"We believe that the highest standards of service and
unparalleled hospitality help to create a unique healing
environment where families find hope and comfort," he said.
Morrison said he hopes his foundation's recent affiliation with
the Defense Department's America Supports You program will help
spread the word about support services it offers to eligible
military families. America Supports You connects citizens and
companies with servicemembers and their families serving at home
and abroad.
Editor's Note: Military families can also avail
themselves of the Defense Department's America Supports You
program, which highlights home-front groups across the nation that
are providing a variety of services and support to troops and their
families. A listing of these groups and information about their
efforts is available at www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil.
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