We Support

Needs of the Heart

Jessie’s Heart provides financial support to those needing assistance with transportation, lodging, food, daycare, and other unexpected expenses. We believe that by reducing the family’s financial burdens, parents can focus on the care and well-being of their child.

We support the multidisciplinary collaboration of Social Workers, Child Life Specialists, Pediatric Psychologists, and Chaplains in the support of CHD families.

Desires of the Heart

We fulfill dreams for cardiac children. Working with the hospital’s care team, we learn about the children’s wishes and gift them through Jessie’s Heart’s Desires of the Heart program.  

Jessie’s Heart captures the stories of families whose kids have been diagnosed with heart conditions. A personal book is designed for them that displays family pictures and stories of their emotional journey.
16-month-old Rowan was born with 4 heart defects.
She has already undergone three open heart surgeries, with the first one on her third day of life. She received a bi-ventricular repair in 2017 and is now living at a normal oxygenation. Her conduit will need to be replaced as she grows and will be under a lifetime of medical surveillance.

Rowan’s parents are happy to share that she lives a normal and very happy life now as a sassy little lady. Her absolute favorite animal is a horse, and she loves the rocking horse gifted by Jessie’s Heart

Rocky Mountain Children’s Health Foundation Partnership

As one of our most valued and committed partners in helping support pediatric patients and their families, we are so grateful to Jessie’s Heart Foundation for your generous support for pediatric cardiac patients at both Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children and for the first time through RMCHF, Children’s Hospital Colorado.

The grant’s funds have been utilized, as always, to provide essential needs for families with children or babies with cardiac health issues. These needs span a variety of categories such as gas/transportation for appointments and hospital visits; food for families during long hospitalizations or in their own homes; housing; and myriad other needs as they arise. This support significantly alleviates the burden on these families as they
navigate the challenges of managing their child’s health.

Your continued commitment to making a difference in the lives of these young patients and their families has truly been transformative. This report outlines the impactful outcomes and stories that have been made possible through your funding – thank you.

Impact Stories
With each opportunity to support a family with a child experiencing cardiac health issues comes the privilege of learning their stories. Within these narratives lie the essence of the remarkable impact your generous funding has had on the lives of hundreds of families supported through this ongoing grant. Each story represents a unique journey, yet collectively, they demonstrate the profound difference your compassionate contribution has made in easing the financial burdens faced by families with pediatric cardiac patients.

14-Month-Old Baby: After getting approval to use JHF funds for Children’s Hospital Colorado families, we received a request to assist the family of a 14-month-old who was diagnosed at birth with a ventricular septal defect and had surgery shortly after birth. The child had been seen in the Children’s Emergency Department 4 times during 2023 and was admitted in late March of this year due to bronchiolitis and respiratory failure. Her parents had been small business owners who were greatly impacted by the pandemic (they owned a dry-cleaning business) and eventually had to shut down their business and move in with extended family for several months.

In November of 2023, they found an apartment to move into, but by March, due to the child’s rehospitalization and challenges with dad finding work in construction in the midst of a stretch of bad weather, the parents knew they would not be able to pay their April rent. JHF funds assisted them with their $1,350 rent payment and allowed the family to breathe a little easier as they supported their young daughter to recover.

A Three-Year-Old Child of divorced parents had open heart surgery for tricuspid atresia repair in May. His parents, while no longer together, worked to support him by alternating days at bedside at the hospital. While mom was able to stay at Ronald McDonald House and was being supported by a Wyoming foundation for day-to-day expenses, Dad, who now lives in Colorado Springs was not able to benefit from the Wyoming foundation and requested assistance with gas for the every-other-day commute. Using Jessie’s Heart Foundation funds, we were able to provide the father with a $250 gas card for his travels while his son was hospitalized.

A 12-Month-Old Baby with a Trisomy 21 diagnosis (whose family has been assisted many times by Jessie’s Heart Foundation) was once again facing financial challenges and an inability to pay their home utility bill in March. The family had received assistance for a portion of their past due bill from Energy Outreach Colorado, but still had a balance that, combined with their monthly utility charges, was impossible for mom to catch up. She asked for assistance to pay the $226 past due balance so that she could go forward with just her regular monthly charges. Most of the previous assistance provided to this family was in the form of small gas or grocery cards, supporting the many medical appointments in Denver for her medically complex child, but this particular boost from JHF was especially beneficial for the proactive help it afforded this RMHC family.

We at RMCHF are deeply grateful to have access to funds from Jessie’s Heart Foundation to provide essential financial assistance to cardiac and cardiac surgery patients under care at both Colorado Hospitals, and we look forward to seeing how the proposed collaborative efforts between the hospitals will expand and improve care for these extremely fragile children and their families.

Our partnering social workers and case managers at both hospitals have noted an increase in need, which is supported by the increase in requests for assistance. Both the increased costs of maintaining basic needs as well as an increase in referrals is resulting in an accelerated need for Jessie’s Heart Foundation resources. We estimate using $20,000 in financial assistance for pediatric cardiac patients in 2024-2025. Any grant funds Jessie’s Heart Foundation can provide to help us bridge that gap will be much appreciated!