Imagine living in a hotel for a week while your child receives care at UVA Children’s. Now imagine repeating this situation every two weeks for a year. For many families of critically ill children, costs for transportation, lodging, and meals away from home can create an unexpected financial impact.

Fortunately, many of these obstacles have been removed for families facing financial hardship thanks to the Bama Works Fund of the Dave Matthews Band, which recently made a $150,000 gift to UVA Children’s. The gift will support UVA’s Family-Centered Care program, which helps with many of the unanticipated expenses that patient families experience while seeking complex treatment in Charlottesville.

“We’re very proud to support the Family-Centered Care program at UVA Children’s,” said Ann Kingston of Bama Works. “To help ease a family’s burden during their time of need not only gives them more time to focus on what’s most important, it also speaks to Bama Works’ dedication to strengthening the bonds that tie our community together.”

In partnership with the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, Bama Works has a long history of supporting a variety of community initiatives in the Charlottesville area, including UVA Children’s.

Karin Skeen, administrator of UVA Children’s, acknowledged the importance of community partners like Bama Works in supporting the work of her team. One of the many areas in which UVA Children’s helps families is with the cost of lodging, should they need to stay in Charlottesville.

“When COVID hit, we had a huge spike in families who needed support for hotel stays, but many of our housing partners had to close their doors temporarily,” said Skeen. “Thankfully we were still able to assist many families. It’s community partners like Bama Works who made this possible.”

According to Skeen, the Family-Centered Care program works exactly as it sounds.

“When a child is ill, we recognize that there are needs that arise which go beyond the child’s medical requirements,” said Skeen, citing needs from gas cards, to emotional support, to meals. “A parent isn’t going to be able to listen to difficult news or follow instructions closely if they’re hungry, so we try to help meet as many areas of need as we can.”

Bama Works is no stranger to UVA Children’s. The Dave Matthews Band initiative was instrumental in supporting the construction of the Battle Building—UVA’s specialized pediatric outpatient facility—and in 2017, made a $150,000 gift to support family-centered care.

Over the last three years, thanks to Bama Works, the Family-Centered Care program was able to help more than 630 economically disadvantaged families. This critical support comes at a time when about half of all families that visit UVA Children’s are facing financial difficulties, and about 40 percent of families live in areas that fall below the national poverty line.

In the years ahead, Skeen and her team plan to serve greater numbers of families, and hope to begin offering higher levels of social and emotional support.

“The focus that Bama Works has on trying to meet these basic needs is so compassionate, it goes beyond the high-level medicine we provide,” said Skeen. “Our specialists can handle a variety of complicated medical situations, but sometimes it’s the basic things that give a parent the strength to help the child get better.”