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Dear friends,

 

Providing the highest quality of evidenced based care to children near my home town and surrounding areas has always been my dream.  In 2014, my role as a professional pediatric nurse grew wings.  I gathered every bit of experience and education that came from my leadership role in a large hospital in Baltimore City and brought it to the rural areas of Western Pennsylvania.  Despite all of the new changes to my role I found that in the eyes of every child, hope could be found.  Families who seek pediatric health care are no different from those who seek t-ball sign ups!  Each and every family I cared for wanted an opportunity for their child to be well.  Sick or not, children and their families are not asking that they be free from illness, pain, or injury.  They are asking for wellness.  Children need to be well in order to grow and develop appropriately.  Without an opportunity to be well children, sick or not, would have a great deal of difficulty growing, developing, and remaining free from illness and or injury.

 

Through managing the care of sick and well children I have learned and demonstrated ways to promote health and wellness.  From tie dying T-shirts with trach and vented kiddos and their healthy siblings to providing trach care in bunk beds while singing twinkle twinkle little star with their parents I know of the need that exists for children.  All children despite location or medical needs deserve an opportunity to be well.  Instead of waiting until wellness depletes and care is required, Small Town Hope believes in promoting and maintaining wellness and preventing harm. We strive to engage children socially, physically, mentally, and psychologically to support growth and development.  Our approach promotes health and safety through an array of programs that are safe, inspiring, and fun! 

 

More than 15 years of pediatric nursing experience has enabled me to provide care for children of all ages at the scene of emergencies, in flight and on the ground, at their bed and cribside in intensive care units, before surgery, during surgery, after surgery, and in their homes.  There has not been a single child that deserved wellness more than another.  Nothing I have witnessed has shook me up more than not being able to connect a child with what they needed.  I refuse to allow the gift of nursing education I have earned and experiences I have lived with children to stay within the walls of a single structure.  Small Town Hope is a organization that will connect kids to what they need.

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I have made it my personal mission to offer children, sick and well, an opportunity to be well.  My mission is what led to the founding of Small Town Hope, Inc.  I work with a dynamic board of directors who share the same passion and personal drive to see our processes through.  Together, we believe in an interdisciplinary approach that embodies collaboration, open communication, hard work, and attention to detail. 

With the support from hearts, hands, and minds of people like you, we will continue to expand this mission of improved health and wellness of the pediatric population, their families, and the communities that surround them.  While our programs and projects have certainly made a difference for many, there is so much more work to be done.  I encourage you to browse our website, look at our programs, and the amazing people who are working together to accomplish good things for little hearts.  Look into the eyes of a child.  Pull your wings back and let hearts soar.  Please consider making a contribution to help us promote the health of our future.

 

 

On behalf of all of us here at Small Town Hope,

 

Thank you,

 

Mandi Paronish