Baby Sharon Committee Meeting 1/28/2025
Present on the zoom call were Richard Emmel, Mark Pearson, Dan Hennessy, Al Adams, and Patrick Casey with Jacob
Grummer from the ACH Social Work Department.
Case 1: This family has a child with end stage kidney disease, which requires nightly dialysis at home. The child has
frequent outpatient appointments and inpatient admissions related to their kidney disease. This can be very difficult
for the family, as both caregivers have to work and have other children. These circumstances caused a strain on one of
the caregiver’s employments, which resulted in the loss of their job. This has led to financial for the past few months
including meeting their rent payment. Therefore, we are submitting for your consideration a request of $1400
towards one-month rent. Total ask: $1400.00; Approved: $1400.00.
Case 2: This case involves a nearly one-year-old complex care patient that has medical issues including poor weight
gain and has to have regular follow up appointments. Caregiver is the only income in the home and sole caregiver for
patient and sibling. They work as a food delivery driver and utilize their personal vehicle for work/home life needs.
Caregiver reported the vehicle has been fixed several times and has nearly 300,000 miles on it and is now no longer
repairable. Therefore, we are submitting for your consideration a request of $5,000 towards the purchase of a
vehicle. Total ask: $5,000.00 Request denied because diagnosis did not meet the Baby Sharon Fund Guidelines.
Case 3: This case involves a nearly one year-old patient who is currently admitted at ACH. The patient, born at 25
weeks 5 days gestation, has a complex medical history that includes bronchopulmonary dysplasia, G-tube dependence,
and ventilator dependent. The patient is going to require a significant amount of medical equipment and supplies,
which will have to be taken with them everywhere. The patient also has a sibling with a complex medical history and
needs. Due to the care needs of their children, the family will need a mode of transporting the children, for
appointments and everyday life, which is sufficiently big to hold both the children and their combined medical
equipment. We are requesting assistance for $495 to cover the cost of 4-seater wagon from Wonderfold which will
provide enough space, stability, and support for the patient, sibling and all the medical equipment. Additionally, we are
requesting one month’s worth of rent for $916 due to the family’s SSI benefits having been cut for unknown reasons.
Caregiver is actively working to correct the issue. This is not anticipated to be a recurring need moving forward.
Therefore, we are submitting for your consideration a request of $495 towards transportation wagon and $916
towards rent. Total Ask: $1,411.00; Approved: $1411.00.
Jacob notified the Committee that there were problems using the $1200.00 awarded for Case #5 in November 2024;
the social worker was unable to use the funds for rent. Since the family needed help with paying a utility bill of $509.71
the Committee approved that request, so the award for Case 5 from November 2024 was reduced from $1200 to
$509.71.
