Mission Statement

The mission of the Forrest Spence Fund is to assist with the non-medical needs of critically or chronically ill children and their families throughout the Mid-South.

About the Fund

The Forrest Spence Fund begins with the story of Brittany and David Spence’s first child, Robert Forrest Spence, born on September 10, 2007. Shortly after birth Forrest developed complications and was transported to the PICU at Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee, where he fought valiantly for life for 55 days before his illness overtook him. While in the PICU, Forrest and his family underwent an indescribable journey of highs and lows. Amidst the daily struggles, the Spences were met with a compassion and love that gave them hope and helped them survive the most difficult journey of their lives. It was in these times that they tasted deeply of the kindness of friends and perfect strangers. It was often that kindness that sustained them, as they grew weary. In light of this experience, the Forrest Spence Fund was founded to assist with the non-medical needs of critically or chronically ill children and their families throughout the Mid-South. The Spences view this as a way for them and for others to support families dealing with similar difficult situations and to give back to area children’s hospitals like Le Bonheur, where the amazing medical staff fought for Forrest and thousands of other children last year alone.

Goals of the Forrest Spence Fund

The Forrest Spence Fund strives to accomplish its mission of assisting with the non-medical needs of critically and chronically ill children throughout the Mid-South by focusing on 4 areas: (1) meeting individual patient and family needs, (2) working with institutions to better recognize and meet non-medical needs, (3) connecting families with counseling and support groups, and (4) providing helpful information and resources via the website to help navigate the difficult process of living with, and dealing with, critical or chronic illness.

Individual Needs

The fund strives to identify specific needs of families who are coping with critically or chronically ill children. As an introduction, we supply patients and families with care baskets that include helpful supplies for their stay in the hospital. These baskets provide items that are comforting and necessary during their stay.  Moreover, our baskets let the families know that someone cares for them during this difficult time and that we are available to them as a resource. For more information on our baskets click here. Each basket includes information about our Fund and establishes an open line of communication to establish a relationship with the family. For those families that contact us or establish a relationship, we look for ways to support them in the hospital or at home, based on their unique situation.  For example, in the past we have provided Christmas gifts, a Thanksgiving meal in the hospital, or Christian Faith-based grief counseling at our expense.

Institutional Support

The second focus of the Fund is to work with area institutions such as Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center to recognize and meet non-medical needs. During the past year, the Fund was able to purchase the following items for Le Bonheur:

• Medical-grade recliner for the Mother’s Nursing Room
• Magazine subscriptions for the Mother’s Nursing Room
• Medical wagon for transportation of children
• Hands-free pumping bras for nursing mothers
• Kodak digital camera with printing dock
• 250 tote bags, notebooks, and Lovies for newly admitted babies

The Fund also provides items off the PICU and NICU wish lists such as:

• Crib mobiles
• CD players
• DVD players
• CDs
• Books
• Blankets
• Socks
• Hats
• Teethers
• Crib mirrors
• Sound machines
• Night lights
• Bubbles
• Stuffed animals
• Goodies and treats for the Le Bonheur staff
• Exersaucers

We are also excited to announce that we are working with Le Bonheur on their current building campaign with the development and construction of a sibling room, a project that is underway and scheduled for completion in 2010. Parents are often hindered from spending quality time with their children in the ICU because visiting children under the age of 12 are currently not permitted on the floor. A parent of multiple children is already taxed and child-care is not usually possible as often as would be necessary. The new sibling room will provide a safe and interesting place for siblings of all ages to play while parents spend precious time with their child in the ICU and we feel honored to be a part of its development over the next year.

Counseling

The illness and loss of a child is one of the most difficult things a parent or a family can experience.  One of the goals of the Forrest Spence Fund is to connect families with counseling and support groups.  If a family loses a child, we refer them to professional Christian counseling.  We are working together with the Christian Psychological Center in Memphis to make sure that families receive the emotional care that they need.  The counselors help families in dealing with the stages of grief, coping with the loss, and the impact of the death on their family.  This is such an important step in healing for the families in our community.

Website

Forrestspencefund.com is an information resource for families of children who are critically or chronically ill. The site includes links to other organizations that provide information and services to assist families as they struggle to deal with pediatric illness.  The site offers insurance information, counseling connections, community updates and local information that might somehow ease some of the burdens that go along with having a critically ill child.

We also hope users will utilize the site to connect with the people in the Forrest Spence Fund community of families. The knowledge gained through shared experiences is invaluable, and having the empathetic ear of someone who’s been in a similar position provides hope in a difficult time. If you are struggling with pediatric illness in your family and would like support please reach out to the Fund via email, phone or Facebook to find out how we can help.

Finally the site is used as a tool to build resources of time and money to support the initiatives of the Fund. If you have time, talent and/or resources to donate, please contact us to see how you can help.  We welcome your involvement!