Letter from the CEO and Board Chair

On behalf of The Children’s Inn community, we offer our heartfelt gratitude to our dedicated supporters. You demonstrated a strong, unwavering commitment to Inn families through another challenging year, and we simply cannot thank you enough.

For more than 30 years, generous donors like you have helped The Inn make childhood possible for the seriously ill children, teens, and young adults who participate in clinical research studies at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). These brave individuals enable a brighter and healthier tomorrow and are an inspiration to us all.

During the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the safety and well-being of Inn families and staff remained paramount. The pandemic has given us an opportunity to reimagine the programs we offer to further focus on supporting families through their difficult medical journeys. The Family Program team is working to improve programs related to physical and mental well-being, education, and recreation with the goal of benefitting family members of all ages. Additionally, we launched several innovative pilot programs over the past fiscal year, including a personalized airport transportation service for families, which eases their burden when traveling to the NIH and The Inn. Lastly, we added a telehealth room as an option for families to meet virtually with their NIH medical teams from the comfort of The Inn.

With guidance from Inn leadership, our staff members continue to work towards the goals outlined in our strategic plan as we create The Inn of the Future. A local consulting firm, Orr Partners, was selected to oversee a multi-year renovation and redesign project, and we selected Perkins & Will as the architectural firm that will map out and implement our design plan. Simultaneously, we are exploring the feasibility of a significant capital campaign to assess the readiness for this type of fundraising initiative. The study will culminate in recommendations that will guide our fundraising efforts to cover the costs of major Inn renovations. We look forward to sharing the next steps with you as they evolve.

Other renovation projects include a beautiful sunroom, adjacent to one of our newly renovated kitchens, which we anticipate will be completed in February 2022. This new, year-round space will provide families with an additional area for respite after a long day of medical appointments. Additionally, our project to refresh the playground will begin this winter and includes new play features, added shaded areas, comfortable seating options, and a centerpiece of colorful letters that spell the word “HOPE,” which will be brightly lit at night.

Our diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda continues to be incorporated into the work we do at The Inn. During the past fiscal year, Inn leadership, in conjunction with professionals in this field, held multiple staff engagements sessions focused on Unconscious Bias, Anti-“ism,” Allyship, and encouraging courageous conversations.  The Board sets the tone and the standard for the Inn’s DEI efforts, ensuring DEI is a key component of our future strategy, engaging in continuous learning opportunities and placing DEI at the forefront of everything we do. 

Your generosity directly impacts and improves the lives of the families who have called The Inn their “place like home” since we opened our doors in 1990. Thank you, again, for your continued support — and for providing hope to seriously ill children and their families year after year!