CHOC is so grateful to recently have received three very generous gifts that will help CHOC continue to care for more than 185,000 babies, kids and teens each year. CHOC believes that all children deserve a chance at a happy, healthy childhood.
Transformational gift to benefit the pediatric mental health system of care
CHOC received a transformational gift from the Cherese Mari Laulhere Foundation to enhance and expand its pediatric mental health system of care. The announcement comes on the heels of the Conditions of Children in Orange County report, which highlights alarming increase in the number of children hospitalized in the county for mental illness.
The gift from the Cherese Mari Laulhere Foundation will:
- Endow CHOC’s mental health inpatient center. Opened in April 2018 for children ages 3 to 17, the center is the only inpatient facility in Orange County that offers specialized programs for kids younger than 12. The center will now be named the Cherese Mari Laulhere Mental Health Inpatient Center
- Establish the Cherese Mari Laulhere Young Child Clinic for children ages 3 to 18 who are experiencing behavioral and emotional challenges, mental health issues and school readiness challenges.
- Expand CHOC’s Intensive Outpatient Program, a mental health treatment program for high schoolers with moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety, depression or other symptoms related to mental health conditions. The program will be expanded to middle school-aged children.
- Advance trauma-informed care, including providing tools to pediatricians to help in identifying adverse childhood experiences, and connecting patients and families with resources.
“Our donations are gifts from our daughter, who brought so much light and love into this world. As someone who advocated for the underserved, Cherese would be very proud of her role in supporting CHOC’s mental health efforts and helping change the trajectory of thousands of young lives,” says Cherese’s parents, Chris and Larry.
Learn more about this gift to CHOC.
$8 million to advance research for rare disorder
An $8 million gift from the Foundation of Caring will help CHOC advance research for a rare lysosomal storage disease, ultimately leading to an improved understanding and more effective treatments.
The gift will support CHOC researchers working to develop next-generation therapies for Pompe disease, a lysosomal storage disease wherein glycogen builds up in the body’s cells and causes life-threatening heart failure and muscle weakness in affected babies. In honor of the gift, the program will be named the Foundation of Caring Lysosomal Storage Disorder Program at CHOC.
The work of Dr. Raymond Wang, a CHOC metabolic disorders specialist and director of the Foundation of Caring Lysosomal Storage Disorder Program, drew the attention of the Foundation of Caring several years ago when Dr. Wang began treating the great-granddaughter of the Foundation’s founder after she was diagnosed with Pompe disease.
With previous support from the Foundation of Caring, Dr. Wang and his team have already made significant strides in its study of Pompe disease, having built a growing research team that’s used CRISPR/Cas9 technology to edit the genome to create animal models of Pompe disease. The Foundation of Caring’s gift will allow Dr. Wang and his team to expand upon this work and use CRISPR to cure Pompe disease and lysosomal storage disorders.
“We are so pleased to support the important work of Dr. Wang and his team at CHOC to help find better treatment or, even better, a cure for Pompe disease for patients affected by the condition worldwide,” says the Foundation of Caring Board of Directors.
Learn more about this gift to CHOC.
$2 million to CHOC’s neonatal intensive care unit
Newborn babies requiring critical care have gained a big ally in the William, Jeff and Jennifer Gross Foundation. A recent $2 million gift to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) on CHOC’s main campus in Orange rounds the Foundation’s support of CHOC’s neonatal services to $7 million in the past year.
Many hospitals offer intensive care units but only a select few are rated by the American Academy of Pediatrics as Level 4 – the highest rating available – and even fewer are ranked among the best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report. CHOC’s program features three NICUs, a team of board-certified neonatologists and special units for the smallest preemies, infants who need complex surgery, and babies who have neurological and cardiac concerns.
“CHOC’s neonatal services are unlike anything else offered on the West Coast, providing the highest levels of care and tremendous hope to families in the region. We are honored to continue our commitment to CHOC and the care of newborn babies,” says Jeff Gross.
Learn more about this gift to CHOC.
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Get mental health resources from CHOC pediatric experts
The mental health team at CHOC curated the following resources on mental health topics common to kids and teens, such as depression, anxiety, suicide prevention and more.
