Mission: Project Joy and Hope’s goal is to achieve the best quality of life and care for children and young people with life-limiting conditions and their families, by raising awareness of pediatric palliative care, educating PPC providers, and providing supportive care services and programs. Project Joy and Hope (PJH) aims to provide a strong support system, thereby helping families remain stable and intact at this challenging time in their lives.
Programs: Housing: hope shelter program - "home away from home" for children who are undergoing treatment, needing palliative care services or need to prepare or recover from transplant. Project joy and hope operates a permanent residential facility, consisting of six 3 bedroom, 2 bath units, providing a spacious and peaceful environment for medically fragile children and their families. Volunteers provide friendly visits and support. The shelter program provided 345 units of service for fiscal year ended 4/30/2017. Project joy & hope is not a united way agency. Case management support, and any additional operational expenses are paid through public donations and special event fundraisers. Clients at risk for homelessness due to medical condition of a child are referred by social workers, schools and medical institutions. Housing: tulip project - is a family-friendly campus. The campus provides up to six families in three duplex units. Each unit has three bedrooms, two baths, and designed to assist families with children who are waiting on transplant, experiencing recurrent disease, or utilizing palliative care services.
education: parent agency for the texas pediatric palliative care consortium (tppcc) - a statewide collaboration of palliative care professionals from pediatric hospitals, hospices and agencies throughout texas. Pjh provides an annual educational conference in palliative care essentials to offer continuing education for physicians, nurses, social workers, child life specialists and caregivers. A one day midwinter conference focused on pediatric palliative care issues is also held. Community awareness regarding pediatric palliative care resources and information for public and providers access. Maintain website, presentation and displays, bi-annual newsletter, and speaking bureau.
hope scholarship fund: college scholarships for bereaved high school seniors who have demonstrated outstanding community service in spite of their own adversity. Pjh has awarded nearly $600,000 to area scholars since 2001. Scholarships were awarded to 23 high school seniors for fiscal year ending 4/30/2017.
holiday gift program: providing holiday gifts and financial support for pediatric palliative care patients and their families throughout texas. 105 children and adults were serviced by this program during fiscal year ending 4/30/2017 with gifts valued at $20,500. Family assistance grant fund: helping families throughout texas whose children require ongoing treatment for serious illness or hospice care; covers out of pocket costs for medication, hospital parking and meals, rental assistance and utilities. Pjh accepts referrals from social workers at texas children's hospital, md anderson pediatric cancer center, memorial hermann children's hospital and area hospices. This program served 114 individuals during fiscal year ending 4/30/2017 with grants totaling $9984. 1-866-joyhope - toll-free parent-to-parent support line.
Project Joy and Hope for Texas is a unique miracle in the lives of not only those children and families it serves but of those who volunteer, as well. The countless hours of volunteer time supporting the myriad of programs, events, ad hoc needs, and special projects for these especially vulnerable are doubly rewarding for the legions of volunteers. Rarely will one find a more fulfilling opportunity to make a significant difference in the lives of precious children.
My husband and I have been supporting this ministry financially and with our time for over 10 years. One of the most beautiful programs is the Sib-Shop - a day where the focus is on the often overlooked siblings. They also provide a 5 day camp in the summer. They continually look for new ways to help the families coming their way. We retired from jobs in the Austin area in 2019 and one of the reasons we moved this way was to be able to provide more time in volunteering for this agency.
It is an honor and privilege to be a part of such a wonderful organization that puts the health and wellbeing of the children and families at the Tulip Project first above all else. We have been donors for over 10 years now and are amazed at the amount of work the staff and volunteers put in 24/7. As a donor, it is very heart whelming to see firsthand that your gift/s are making a difference in the lives of these families.
We have volunteered at Project Joy and Hope for over 5 years. This organization always puts the children and their families first to make their time at Tulip Street as pleasant and comforting as possible during times of treatment, surgery or loss. PJH has developed strong relationships with Houston Medical Center hospitals and doctors to provide care, support and services to their families. Their mission is financially and ethically sound with a board who supports the vision and employees of PJH. This is the non-profit my husband and I choose to volunteer our time and give of our finances. Miracles occur daily on Tulip Street through the love, care and faith of Project Joy and Hope.
Project Joy and Hope creates miracles in the lives of the children and families they serve. No other organization cares more or provides more support to these medically fragile children than the lovely people who work and volunteer at PJH. They are a true blessing to all!
