About the Nonprofit
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Crescent Cove offers care and support to children and young adults with a shortened life-expectancy, and to their families who love them. A vibrant and joyful home-away-from home, our goal is to help families feel Embraced, Assured, and Celebrated.
For these families with medically fragile children, every day is a gift and the current moment is the only one that matters. Our goal is to support families who find themselves in the role of caregiver to their children, by providing short-term stays for children who need advanced nursing care so that their parents can take their first vacation since their birth, or spend quality time with other children in the family and each other.
Our other focal point is to provide a sacred place for end-of-life care as well. These same families who are thrust into the role of caregiver for their children often say good-bye to them before they reach adulthood. When that time comes, the family can come to Crescent Cove and extended family members can visit, create memories together and say good-bye while we take on the work of keeping their child comfortable in their last moments.
We serve children with life-threatening conditions and the families who love them. There are more than 2,000 children living in Minnesota with a life-threatening condition, of which approximately 700 will die each year. For many of these families, their only options for end-of-life for their child is a hospital or their own home, which, in many cases, is not an appropriate place. Crescent Cove exists as a supportive, compassionate third option.
A child’s diagnosis of a life-threatening condition is devastating. The life imagined: a long, bright future and stresses of extracurricular activities turns into an emotional roller coaster of gut-wrenching decisions relating to the quality of life, care and wellness of the child.
Traumatic episodes including trips to the hospital as well as countless stressors on the child, siblings and entire family and support system ensue. The 24-hour care cycle becomes unrelenting. All-consuming medical needs become the focus of a life never imagined or dreamt, but is now the reality. Balancing priorities often takes a toll on family relationships, marriages, jobs and other obligations. Adjustments and compromises are made, but are wrapped around decisions that often cause heartache and emotional strain.
Twenty-five years ago, a child with a life-threatening condition may not have been taken home from the hospital following such a diagnosis. The options for care and treatment were not the same. Today, we have advanced medical care for children with life-threatening conditions, and the final care decisions are often left up to the family, along with the extraordinary costs. This responsibility can be devastating for many families. Families who otherwise may have had two incomes may face the decision to quit a job to be home to provide the 24-hour care that is necessary.
A significantly decreased family income holds many challenges that affect the ability to pay for essential care, to help care for other children, pay for assistance needed to balance the typical demands of having a family, such as, cooking, cleaning, and extracurricular activities, and the opportunity to spend quality time as a family or to take an emotional break. There are thousands of families in Minnesota that could use Crescent Cove's support and commitment in the midst of adversity and the realization that their dreams for their child’s future will remain just that.
