Frequently Asked Questions
Answers for families, supporters, and community partners
Hand to Heart Village is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting families navigating pediatric medical crises. We provide practical assistance such as travel, lodging, and meal support, along with trauma-informed care for siblings and parents. Our long-term vision includes building family-centered lodging villages near major children’s hospitals.
We serve families with children and young adults ages 0–18 who are receiving medical treatment that requires travel away from home. Exceptions may be reviewed on a case by case basis for patients up to age 22, depending on medical circumstances. Our programs support the entire family, not just the patient, recognizing the emotional and logistical impact medical crisis has on parents and siblings.
Hand to Heart Village supports families across the United States. While we are based in South Carolina, our assistance and advocacy extend nationally wherever families must travel for pediatric care.
Hand to Heart Village is built around a whole family model. While many organizations focus on one aspect of care, we support the practical, emotional, and logistical needs families face during pediatric medical crisis. Our work is grounded in lived experience, trauma-informed care, and a commitment to keeping families together and supported beyond hospital walls.
Hand to Heart Village was founded by parents who navigated years of hospital stays, surgeries, and long-distance medical travel with a medically fragile child. After experiencing firsthand how families are often left to manage housing, meals, travel, and emotional strain on their own, they created Hand to Heart Village to ensure no family has to navigate this journey alone.