Jessica is 9 years old and was born with multiple medical conditions, including Down Syndrome and atrioventricular canal defect. Due to her medical issues and inaccessible housing, Jessica has lived her entire 9 years in a hospital. NAC’s Healthy@Home (H@H) team was first introduced to Jessica and her family 18 months ago. At that time Jessica was recovering from heart surgery, and used a wheelchair to ambulate. Her family was living in a rented room. The team worked closely with the hospital to ensure Jessica received intense therapy to recover from her heart surgery and so that she would no longer have to use a wheelchair. After the family moved to a two bedroom apartment, NAC helped to ensure home services were in place so that Jessica could finally go home from the hospital for good.

Last December, the team set up a special day for Jessica thanks to our partners at Wells Fargo. Jessica was allowed out of the hospital for the first time in her life to attend a spectacular holiday party for NAC kids hosted by Wells Fargo. The next day Jessica was released from the hospital and went home with her family for good. NAC continues to work with her family to help with home nursing services, medical care management, educational advocacy, housing resources, and to ensure all necessary supports are in place to keep Jessica at home permanently.