Once Upon A Room

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Once Upon a Room is a non-profit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of hospitalized children, teens, and infants who are fighting serious illnesses and long-term acute
trauma. This is accomplished by providing personalized hospital room makeovers to pediatric patients facing long-term hospital stays. The decorated rooms promote happiness and healing in the
patients, as well as hope and smiles to the families and hospital staff caring for these children.

Once Upon a Room started in 2014 with one hospital, decorating 110 rooms in the year. It has grown to 22 hospitals nationwide and over 3,000 rooms decorated each year.

My daughter, Josie, and her twin sister, Teresa, have their own story to tell. Josie and Teresa were head conjoined twins who were separated in a 23-hour surgery. Josie spent so much time in the hospital. Every time she was a patient, I noticed her spirits were lifted when we brought in our items and set up a
mini “house” like atmosphere. Over the years, we have had the pleasure of meeting other patients and families, and when we would visit them, we would bring something to brighten their room, and we could see the joyous effect it had. We decided we wanted to expand our reach and really transform the hospital setting into a personalized, happy environment. This is when Once Upon A Room was born. 

We can’t change the patient's medical outcome, but we can change how they feel when they go through this journey. Since starting Once Upon A Room, it has been incredibly rewarding knowing that you put your
heart and soul into doing something for someone else and to witness the difference it makes.

When we are decorating a room, we put ourselves into the patient's shoes for a moment. We do our best to
anticipate what they want or what will bring them joy. When we are given the theme of the
room, based on what the patent likes, we try to do the best we can to make it perfect. You would think it would be redundant after doing over 5000 plus rooms, but instead, we strive to come up with fun ways to make each room better and more personalized. We also consider the whole family, because it is stressful for them as well. 

Once Upon A Room volunteers are the few who are able to walk into the room and can
concentrate on the person, not the medical diagnosis. The excitement that it brings to the medical staff is also amazing to witness. It is almost as though they become invigorated and happier. They have tough jobs, and the kids we get to help have difficult medical situations. We can only imagine the strain that is put on the staff. It is so much fun to watch their reactions when they are watching a room reveal for one of their patients. One of the best quotes I've heard was, “I have been a pediatric nurse for 25 years and this is the best thing I have ever
seen!” The tears were streaming down her face as she watched her patient, who was waiting for a
heart transplant, see her newly decorated hospital room. It is a gift to bring joy into the lives of those impacted by what we do. 

Once Upon a Room is growing at such a rapid pace and we need your help! Fifteen additional hospitals have asked for services before the end of the year. Whether you are a company or an individual, Once Upon a Room would be grateful for your assistance in meeting these needs. 

We are also expanding to have a volunteer presence in Orange County. If you are interested in learning how you can get involved, please contact us. 

To see Once Upon A Room in action, visit www.onceuponaroom.org or check out our social media pages @onceuponaroom.