Going Above and Beyond is All Part of the Job
The Inn’s Resident Services and Family Programming teams look back on a busy month and look ahead to what’s next
The last few weeks have been anything but ordinary for the dedicated Resident Services and Family Programming teams at The Children’s Inn at NIH. While much of the surrounding area has spent an extended amount of time away from work, the teams have worked through holidays and a significant snowstorm to ensure that The Inn remains a safe, welcoming environment for the families on site receiving care at the Clinical Center across the street. And they’ve done it all while adjusting to life in a new workspace amidst the kick-off of a major construction project to build The Inn of Tomorrow.
“Resident Services has someone on site at The Inn 24/7,” explained Kristin Arabian, The Inn’s Family Programming Operations Manager. “So, for a stretch like we’ve had recently, it takes a lot of planning to make sure that we are providing the same level of service and attention that we do during normal times.”
Planning is only part of the story. The dedication of the Resident Services and Family Programming teams is never on greater display than during the holiday season. Nearly every day in December featured some sort of holiday-themed activities. Arabian explained that families staying at The Inn are experiencing some of the most stressful and difficult times of their lives before even considering how much they might want to be home for the holidays. “We want to create once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for our families,” she smiled.
Even on Christmas Day, members of the team were on site to help families celebrate and make lasting memories of a happy holiday spent away from home. Arabian explained that the staff rotates responsibilities for major holidays to ensure that staffers get to spend special time with their own loved ones as well as providing top-notch service to the families staying at The Inn.
This year, in the midst of organizing the jam-packed holiday schedule, those teams also found themselves needing to relocate their workspaces. With construction about to get underway for the renovation and expansion project that will lead to The Inn of Tomorrow, half of the existing Inn has been shut down for Phase One of that construction. As a result, Resident Services and Family Programming are now operating out of temporary quarters in The Inn’s multipurpose room and Teen Lounge.
“It was challenging to ensure that programs kept running smoothly during the transition,” Arabian remembered. “We had to adjust to fewer spaces being available to host programs. But now that we’ve fully moved in and settled, we absolutely love the new space! The team is all set, and it feels great to have everything in place.”
Now settled in and with the calendar flipped to 2025, there would be a chance for those hard-working teams to catch their breath, right? Wrong. Late on the night of January 5, a powerful winter storm entered the Washington area and dropped nearly a foot of snow on The Inn and its surrounding area.
The Resident Services and Programming teams were ready. They had planned. They were dedicated. And most importantly for a weather event like this, they remain flexible and ready to help out however they can. To ensure service remained available for families throughout the storm, six members of the team – including Kristin, Director of Resident Services and Family Programming Aisha Campbell, and four other Inn staffers – made their way to The Inn, prepared to stay overnight like the residents to ensure their safety and comfort. It was a challenge to safely navigate snowy roads on their way to The Inn, but seeing the excitement of the families, many of whom had never experienced snow, made it all worth it.
The preparation, dedication, and flexibility of the Resident Services and Family Programming teams has a significant and direct impact on the lives of the families, but it also does not go unnoticed by the rest of the staff. “All of us at The Inn are so grateful to each member of our Resident Services and Family Programming teams,” said The Inn’s CEO Jennie Lucca. “They enabled our families to create so many fun and lasting memories and ensured that everything ran smoothly during the storm. These teams are our families’ first points of contact here at The Inn, and each member of the team goes above and beyond to further our mission of providing ‘A Place Like Home’ for these families.”
With roads plowed and local and federal facilities resuming their normal operations, now may be a chance for the hardworking Resident Services and Family Programming staff to catch their breath. Or not. Another storm could be on the way this weekend, and plans are already being made to ensure the continuation of services if it is another significant event. The job is never done, but thanks to their efforts, it is always done well.
