California

Serving: Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA)

Children’s Hospital Orange County (CHOC)

CHOC MISSION

UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital

UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center

Los Angeles General Medical Center

Once Upon a Room began in Los Angeles in 2014 at our flagship hospital, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Over the years, we have grown and been able to scale our program across the country. With the help of generous donations and support, we are able to make a difference in so many pediatric patient’s hospital stays. Stay in touch with us! We would love to hear from you.

OUR SPECIAL PROJECTS

California Junior Room Crew

California Junior Room Crew 

Coco, a former CHLA patient and now rockstar Junior Room Crew member, put together Summer Fun Baskets for our patients. Each basket was filled with goodies for our patients to enjoy who were set to be in-patient during summer break. We had different age level baskets for patients toddler age through teenagers. Some had bubbles and barbies while others had nail polish and adult coloring books, all fundraised for by Coco!

Coco’s Summer Fun Baskets

Unit Decoration Day

Each year, we host Unit Decorating Days at the hospital. The events are sponsored by different corporations and groups, as well as some that are put on by our Junior Room Crew. They fundraise for end decorate each patient room on a given unit. It is such a special experience, as every child on the floor gets their room decorated, and it is all a surprise to them. It is so moving to see how the room decs affect our volunteers, the patients, their families and the hospital staff. If you would like to sponsor a Unit Decorating Day, please contact us for more information!

Christmas Trees

Each Christmas season, we work with the Child Life Departments at our hospitals to provide Christmas trees and decorations for each patient that is going to be in-patient during the holiday season. We set up Christmas Tree Decorating Days at each of our hospitals, and bring a team of volunteers to help the patients and their families set up the trees and decorate with them. We offer up our Christmas Tree Decorating Days as sponsorship opportunities for different groups and corporations each year. We are so grateful to our donors who help make this possible at our hospitals each year. Please contact us if you are interested in sponsorship opportunities.

  • We are so fortunate to have community friends like "Once Upon a Room" who help support our mission of "healing human kind, one person at a time" through normalizing the hospital environment. It's amazing how a bright comforter, some pendant banners and a personalized touch can change not only the hospital room but the hospital experience. Our kids feel motivated and uplifted after their "Once Upon a Room" visit. The "Once Upon a Room" volunteers do such an amazing job of getting to know our kids and truly connecting with them. We love the energy they bring and the time they dedicate. I remember when they did Larry's room, everything Super Mario! Larry and his sister always came to the playroom to play Mario Kart so it was only fitting that it be the theme to his room. Once Larry's room was decorated it brought the biggest smile not only to his face but that of his sister and his parents. They could not believe how different Larry's room looked, how much happier it was. AND the fact that they got to keep everything...such a bonus! I am so grateful to shared in that memory with Larry in his family, I know it is one they all hold dear. "Once Upon a Room" is such a blessing to our unit and our families and we look forward to each and every visit!

    Tracy Reyes (UCLA Child Life Specialist)

  • I have been the acting Chief Financial Officer of Once Upon a Room since 2018. I became involved through a dear friend whose son was diagnosed with leukemia. Once she explained the mission, I was driven to be involved in any capacity. My friend organized a volunteer day at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles with Jenny and Josie Hull and Siena Dancsecs, the founders of OUR. It was an extraordinary experience and I was all in after that first day. I spent the next 18 months going to Bone Marrow Transplant with Jenny on Wednesdays and participated in many of the events that OUR arranges and executes in various hospitals in Southern California. During that time, I witnessed firsthand the impact that OUR had, not only on these precious patients, but on their families as well. The diagnosis of a pediatric illness comes with a myriad of emotions, as well as, in many cases, limitations placed on an already fragile situation. I know this first hand as my 3 ½ month old niece was diagnosed with brain cancer and was in treatment at CHLA for over 5 years. I shared the in-hospital experience with my sister so that she could also parent her other daughter during that entire period. OUR brings these children a change to their immediate environment, the feeling that comes from being able to be surrounded by their favorite character or color or activity but most importantly, a distraction to the sometimes scary and uncomfortable treatments that they are receiving. The joy is palpable and beautifully contagious to everyone around them. If you have ever been exposed to a situation like this you know that the impact is tremendous when even a moment of relief is the result of the endeavor. I am forever grateful to be a part of this extraordinary organization and I am committed to the expansion of this organization that touches every life, patient, family, volunteer and medical staff that it connects with.

    Johanna Robin (Chief Financial Officer)

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