Our Highlights
Summer Series #6: Technology sparks joy

Technology & Joy
The hospital can be filled with scary unknowns for children, including sounds, smells, feelings, and faces. However, at Flushing Hospital Medical Center there is one face that the children grow to recognize: Rashmi Momaya. Rashmi is the only Child Life Specialist at Flushing Hospital Medical Center and has dedicated her work to helping alleviate the stress that accompanies a hospital visit. In 2008, enCourage Kids Foundation funded the hospital’s first Child Life Program and we have been an important partner in their work ever since. Recently, we funded a VECTA Deluxe Mobile Sensory Station. The VECTA machine is a transportable station that has a CD player, a projector, fiber optic cables for tactile touch, aromatherapy, and an interactive bubble column in which the speed of the bubbles and the color of the column can be controlled by the patient.
Child Life Spotlight: Teddy Bear Clinics
Child Life Specialists will often use Teddy Bear Clinics as a way to show children exactly what is going on during certain procedures, like an IV needle insertion, taking a child’s blood pressure, or wrapping a bandage or cast over an injury. enCourage Kids’ Teddy recently made it big time on the local news in Rockton, IL for his help during a Teddy Bear Clinic at Mercyhealth’s Javon Bea Hospital. This clinic was put on during their Children Health and Safety Event, preparing children and families on how to stay safe over the summer.
National Nonprofit Day
Saturday, August 17th is National Nonprofit Day! To celebrate we asked some members of our enCourage Kids community to reflect on their passion for our mission and why they love EKF. Click on each of the names below to see what they have to say.