MEMBERSHIP // MEMBER STORIES

Storybook Blog

A Place to Believe In

My name is Cameron Pearce and I have been the Administrative Marketing and Development Intern for a few months now. I have had the privilege [...]

29
Dec

From A Father’s Perspective

My name is Brian and my daughter Ellory has been a regular visitor to the Children’s Healing Center for four years. My wife tried to [...]

28
Oct

Finding the Center

My name is Kaitlin and my son, Benjamin and I have been coming to The Children’s Healing Center for the better part of a year. [...]

26
Aug

Healthy Eating

This month’s blog is all about healthy eating and summer opportunities for healthy eating! Healthy eating includes eating at home instead of out, eating farm [...]

29
Jul

From a Mothers Perspective

In May we celebrate Mother’s day and this month we were able to sit down with Leena and learn more about her family, what is [...]

05
May

The Journey to Social Work

Hello! My name is Haley Nguyen, and I became involved with the Children’s Healing Center in June 2021. I am currently in the master’s Social [...]

22
Apr

This is Public Health

My name is Maggie Carey and I have been the Administrative, Marketing, and Development Intern for almost a year now! I have had the pleasure [...]

08
Apr

The Luck of the Center

March is the month of LUCK and we at the Center certainly feel like the luckiest of them all! We are so lucky to have [...]

25
Mar

Finding the Right Place for Me

Hi everyone, my name is Emma Clinkscales, the Behavioral Health Manager (or Social Worker) who recently became a part of the team. I joined the [...]

11
Mar

WE LOVE Project

The month of February is a time to celebrate the love we have for ourselves and those around us. This month we ran our “WE [...]

25
Feb

The Perfect Place for Me

Hello! My name is Madisen Jacobson, and I became involved with the Children’s Healing Center in April of 2021. A friend of mine mentioned the [...]

17
Feb

Outside Matters

The winter months can make going outside and being active difficult. Luckily, there are some winter activities and motivational tools that make it easy [...]

28
Jan

Joy During the Holidays

Joy is defined as the feeling of happiness and delight generated from good moments and memories. We encompass the feeling of joy through the Center [...]

17
Dec

Behind the Scenes

My name is Kristy Irwin and I have worked here at the Center for one year as of November 2021. I am the Financial Manager and complete tasks [...]

12
Nov

Everything I know about Godzilla

Everything I know about Godzilla I learned at the Children’s Healing Center. This giant, dinosaur-like creature breathes atomic breath and unleashes radioactive beams whilst battling [...]

29
Oct

Fieldwork Intern Fun

My name is Lex Russ, and I joined the center in November of 2020. I started off volunteering on Monday nights after being encouraged to [...]

24
Sep

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

Hi Everyone! My name is Clare DeVeau and I am one of the Pediatric Oncology Social Workers at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital. [...]

10
Sep

My Program to Program Administrator

Hello! My name is Ella Beckett and I’ve been involved with the Children’s Healing Center in a variety of ways over the past four and [...]

27
Aug

Mental Health Awareness

Hello! I’m Laura Luchies, and I’m the Associate Director of Calvin University’s Center for Social Research. I have been the research and evaluation partner for [...]

30
Jul

My Time at the Center

Hello! My name is Emily Miller and I joined the Children’s Healing Center in December of 2020. [...]

16
Jul

My Experience as a Program Intern

It’s me, Annalisa Lascoe. A sucker for adventure and the finer things in life. I’m just an ordinary young adult who is learning and growing [...]

14
May

Ins and Outs of a Program

For 18 years I taught 3 and 4-year old’s in a preschool classroom. Averaging 30 kids a year that would mean I’ve worked with 360+ [...]

23
Apr

Opening New Doors to Good. Clean. Fun.

At the Children’s Healing Center, knowing how to have fun and help children heal through the power of play is what we do best. [...]

26
Mar

What I Wish I Knew

What I wish I knew before cancer treatment that I know now. [...]

15
Mar

Strength In Sports

Hi, my name is Andrea Shaner, and I’ve been a committee member at the Center for a couple of years now. When I first became [...]

26
Feb

Q&A with Intern Rachel Traxler

I am currently a senior at Western Michigan University graduating this spring with my bachelor’s in Child and Family Development. [...]

26
Feb

Overwhelmingly Grateful

As I sat on the floor in the fitness area of the Children’s Healing Center, I was overcome with feelings of immense gratitude observing the [...]

12
Feb

My Why

My name is Patrick O’Brien and I have been volunteering at the Children’s Healing Center for the past four months. [...]

29
Jan

Healthy Habits

Hi, everyone! My name is John Kopec, and I act as a consulting physician for CHC. Some of you may know me from HDVCH, where [...]

15
Jan

These Kids Are Heroes

When I played basketball at Michigan State, I had the honor of meeting several children who were battling cancer. It always struck me that they [...]

18
Dec

A Ray of Sunshine

My name is Amanda Cohen, I am a student at Grand Valley State University with hopes to become a Certified Child Life Specialist (eventually). I [...]

04
Dec

A Better Version of Myself

My name is Taylor Wilson. Over the course of a year, I had the opportunity to fulfill different roles at Children’s Healing Center. It was [...]

20
Nov

My Normal

If you had asked me what I imagined high school to be like when I was a kid, my answer would not even come close [...]

06
Nov

An Interview with Teen Member, Jed Rose

I am 13 years old. I enjoy going sailing with my family and being outdoors. Right now actually, we are at the Sleeping Bear Dunes [...]

16
Oct

The Meaning of Friendship

Our names are both Kaitlyn. We are High School volunteers at the Children’s Healing Center. When asked by the Center to write a blog post [...]

02
Oct

Adaptability, Learning, and Growth

Hi! My name is Laurel, and I had the pleasure of being the Program Intern at the Children’s Healing Center this summer. This summer was [...]

25
Sep

Leadership Lessons

My name is Kate McCartney and I was a summer intern at Children’s Healing Center under Cheryl Raguse. I am going into my senior year [...]

11
Sep

Finding Purpose

Purpose. It’s a word that we hear a lot and something that we might spend our entire lives searching for. Like so many others I [...]

28
Aug

More Unknown

Three years ago in July my daughter Kate wrote a blog post titled ‘More Unknown.’ She had just had a bone marrow biopsy and learned [...]

14
Aug

Isolation, Uncertainty, and Fear is Our Every Day

While the outside world adjusts to this ‘new normal,’ not much has changed at the Center. We have been utilizing the recommended screening and cleanliness [...]

31
Jul

My Brother’s Legacy

Hi, my name is Mike Copeland. I am a Patient Advocate for the Sickle Cell Disease Association – MI Chapter (SCDAAMI). When I was asked [...]

10
Jul

The Healing Power of Art

In early 1999 I was looking for something “fun” to do, and maybe to earn a little extra money. So when my sister told me [...]

26
Jun

The Best Place to Have Fun

Today, my daughter’s physician asked me, “How do you envision your daughter’s death?” Let that sink in for a minute…. [...]

12
Jun

Insightful Internship

I came across the Center by accident. My university, Grand Valley, had shared the internship posting on their social media and it just happened to [...]

29
May

Funbusters

“My name is Liz Greer and I am the Volunteer Coordinator for the Children’s Healing Center. In addition to my work at the CHC, I [...]

15
May

The Power of Believing in Someone

“He believed in you and what you do at the Center.” Those were the words Randi Wilson said to me when I arrived at the [...]

17
Apr

Inclusive Friendships

Hi, my name is Mary Prindle. I am a 13 year old and a member at the Center. I have two incurable diseases [...]

10
Apr

Dodgeball or Jam Session?

If you could go back to your teen years, what would you change?. Teens are like squirrels (too indecisive to pick a direction). Not yet [...]

27
Mar

From Member Grandma to Volunteer

My name is Jan Burgers and my connection with The Children’s Healing Center began with a leukemia diagnosis for my little granddaughter, Becca, when she [...]

13
Mar