The Heart Behind Hand to Heart Village
Our Story
Hand to Heart Village began with a simple truth: No family should face a child’s medical crisis alone.
Our founders, Jennifer and Daniel Hollis, know firsthand what it’s like to live in and out of hospitals, to sleep in waiting rooms or far from home, and to navigate the chaos of appointments, surgeries, and uncertainty while still trying to hold a family together. After years of long drives, hospital stays, financial strain, and emotional exhaustion, they knew something had to change – not just for their family but for others walking the same road.
What started as a vision to ease the burden on families like theirs became a mission to create a network of support that stretches across the country and eventually takes shape as a physical village, an actual place where families can rest, connect, and heal close to the care their child needs.
Hand to Heart Village is more than a nonprofit. It is a movement of compassion in action.
Born from Love. Built with Purpose.
We provide immediate, practical help such as gas cards, meal support, hotel stays, and advocacy, and we build deep relationships with families navigating the hardest moments of their lives. Every act of support is a brick in the foundation of the future village we are working to build.
We are here to catch families in freefall, to bring community where there has been isolation, and to remind every parent: you are not alone.
Our Mission
Hand to Heart Village supports families across the nation who are navigating complex medical journeys with their children. We accomplish this by providing travel, lodging, and meal assistance, along with personalized advocacy and care coordination.
Our Vision
We envision a future where families facing complex medical journeys have a welcoming place to stay, close to the care their children need. Hand to Heart Village is building a compassionate, nationwide network of family-centered Villages near major children’s hospitals, where comfort, support, and community come together so no family has to face a medical crisis alone.
Our Purpose
At Hand to Heart Village, we ease the overwhelming burdens families face when a child is in a medical crisis. We provide financial help for travel, lodging, and meals, along with compassionate support like family advocacy and sibling programs. Parents can then focus on their child’s healing. Our long-term vision is to create welcoming lodging villages near major hospitals, offering families a true home-away-from-home during difficult times.
Born from one family’s impossible journey.
We spent years living in major children’s hospitals with our medically fragile son. We slept in chairs, struggled through cross-state moves, juggled work and bills, and watched our daughter carry the heavy emotional weight of being “the sibling.”
We saw the gap: while hospitals cared for our child, no one was caring for our whole family.
Hand to Heart Village was born to change that — for every family.
Our Village Leadership
Our Board of Directors and Executive Team lead the way, but our true strength comes from the supporters, families, and volunteers who make this village come alive.
Executive Director CO-Founder | Board Chair
Vice Chair
Secretary
Managing Director Co-Founder | Treasurer
Board Members
Director of Sibling & Family Support
Jamie Nolan Coaching
Rothwell Construction
Wisdom of the body