{"id":91,"date":"2015-09-14T16:50:40","date_gmt":"2015-09-14T20:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/test\/?p=485"},"modified":"2021-07-29T12:56:55","modified_gmt":"2021-07-29T16:56:55","slug":"celebrate-grand-opening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/childrenshealing.org\/beta\/2015\/09\/14\/celebrate-grand-opening\/","title":{"rendered":"CHC to Celebrate Grand Opening"},"content":{"rendered":"
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First Year-Round Recreation Center in Nation for Children with Weak Immune Systems Will Officially Open to Families<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Grand Rapids, Michigan, September 14, 2015<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The Children\u2019s Healing Center, the first year-round recreation facility for kids with weak immune systems and their families, is celebrating its grand opening on Wednesday, Sept. 16.The Center is hosting an open house from 10 to 11 a.m. at its new 7,000-square-foot facility at 1530 Fulton St. E. The media are welcome to attend.The event will include a twist on the traditional ribbon cutting: Children will play a game of Red Rover and break through a chain of community leaders and CHC supporters to signify the Center\u2019s role in helping sick kids break through the isolation they often face. Community leaders in attendance will include John and Nancy Kennedy, Amy Van Andel and Dr. Beth Kurt from Helen DeVos Children\u2019s Hospital \u2013 all of whom played a significant role in the Center\u2019s development.The celebration will also include brief remarks by Amanda Winn, the Center\u2019s founder and executive director, and others key to the launch. Winn will make a special announcement about family memberships at the Center. Some of the families who have already begun to forge connections thanks to the CHC will also be in attendance and available for media interviews. Light refreshments and self-guided tours of the Center will be provided.<\/p>\n

The Center will host a private reception for donors in the evening on Sept. 16, and then the staff will get busy cleaning to create as close to a germ-free space as possible so they can officially welcome families on Monday, Sept. 21. The Center will offer free play for the first few weeks before scheduled activities begin Oct. 5.<\/p>\n

\u201cYears of dreaming and planning have resulted in this grand opening,\u201d Winn said. \u201cWe\u2019re excited to open our doors and provide a place for children with weak immune systems to come play, stay fit and have fun in a germ-free environment. And we\u2019re immensely grateful to the families and community donors who have helped us get to this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Children\u2019s Healing Center provides a safe, clean, interactive place for children coping with cancer, autoimmune disorders, organ transplants and other medical conditions that leave them at greater risk for infection than their peers. The Center offers scheduled classes, free play and user-driven programming for children ages 3 to 18 in four main program areas: exploratory play, an active fitness space, tech zone and art and learning room.<\/p>\n

The Center features a clean environment designed to provide as close to a germ-free space as possible. Every person who comes through the doors will go through a rigorous screening process by a medically knowledgeable CHC team before entry to prevent inadvertent exposure to colds, infections and related ailments that could be harmful to children with weak immune systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a nurse, I understand the need for the Children\u2019s Healing Center in Grand Rapids,\u201d said Amy Van Andel, who has been active both in fundraising and in developing screening and operational protocols. \u201cAs a mother, I know what a difference having a safe, clean place to play will make for families throughout West Michigan.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs someone committed to our community, I am excited that we can offer this much-needed service to kids in \u2013 and beyond \u2013 Grand Rapids.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than four years in the making, the Center is the vision of Winn. She was just shy of her 22nd birthday when she was diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin\u2019s lymphoma, a life-threatening blood cancer that forced her to trade her career as an architectural designer for doctor appointments, chemotherapy treatments and surgeries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a place where families can take a break from doctor visits, treatments and hospital stays and focus on just being a family,\u201d Winn said. \u201cIt\u2019s also a place where they can experience hospital-grade cleanliness without the isolation of being in a hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several local businesses and organizations are partnering with the Children\u2019s Healing Center to provide free programming at its facility. They include:<\/p>\n

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  • Brush Studio<\/li>\n
  • Grand Valley State University rugby teams<\/li>\n
  • East Grand Rapids branch of Kent District Library<\/li>\n
  • The Mud Room<\/li>\n
  • MVP Sports Clubs<\/li>\n
  • Seva Yoga<\/li>\n
  • St. Thomas the Apostle School<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Backed by broad support and community involvement, the Center is wrapping up the public phase of a $1.8 million campaign for start-up, capital and operational costs, including an extensive renovation of the building that now houses the Center.<\/p>\n

    The Children\u2019s Healing Center will be open weekdays except for Wednesday and occasional Saturdays.\u00a0More information, including hours, programming and family memberships, is available at www.childrenshealingcenter.org. You can find the Center on Facebook and Twitter.<\/p>\n

    About Children\u2019s Healing Center<\/strong>
    \nOpening its doors in September 2015, Children\u2019s Healing Center is the first year-round recreation center in the nation for children with weak immune systems. Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan,\u00a0the Center offers a safe, clean and interactive place for children ages 3 to 18 to come play, stay fit and have fun in a germ-free environment. For more information, visit www.childrenshealingcenter.org. Like us on Facebook \/ChildrensHealingCenter or follow us on Twitter @healingkidsplay.<\/p>\n

    # # #<\/p>\n

    Contact: Amanda Winn
    \nChildren\u2019s Healing Center, 616.634.0423
    \nor
    \nMary Ann Sabo
    \nSabo Public Relations, 616.485.1432<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    First Year-Round Recreation Center in Nation for Children with Weak Immune Systems Will Officially Open to Families Grand Rapids, Michigan, September 14, 2015\u00a0\u2013 The Children\u2019s Healing Center, the first year-round recreation facility for kids with weak immune systems and their families, is celebrating its grand opening on Wednesday, Sept. 16.The Center is hosting an open […]\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1006,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chc-in-the-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/childrenshealing.org\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/childrenshealing.org\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/childrenshealing.org\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childrenshealing.org\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childrenshealing.org\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/childrenshealing.org\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1736,"href":"https:\/\/childrenshealing.org\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions\/1736"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childrenshealing.org\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/childrenshealing.org\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childrenshealing.org\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childrenshealing.org\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}