My Little Waiting Room Honored at 2010 Portland Monthly Light a Fire Awards

Thanks to Portland Monthly magazine for honoring us with their 2010 Light a Fire Nonprofit award, and putting together this wonderful video, story and photo.  All of these photos are courtesy of Jamie Coughlin and Portland Monthly magazine.

Read about My Little Waiting Room at AOL Good News

Thanks to AOL Good News, writer David Moye and our friend Megan for this great story about My Little Waiting Room!  Click the link above to read all about it. 

My Little Waiting Room Fall Update (2010)

Dear Friends:

Happy fall! We have a few exciting updates to share with you:

1. My Little Waiting Room has served 2,000 appointments! In just six months since our opening on April 5, we met this major milestone. Visit www.mylittlewaitingroom.org/test to read heartwarming comments from our trailblazing first families. One mom sums up her experience by saying, "Thank you for allowing me to take care of my son while you take care of my daughter."

2. We've raised nearly $99,000. Wow! Special thanks go to the following organizations that made donations recently: Ikea (again!) Walmart, Hitachi, Providence Health System Federal Credit Union (again!), Celebration of the Creche for Children and Providence St. Vincent Employees (again!). And thanks to all of you friends and family members for your generosity! Visit www.providencefoundations.org/foundations/news-and-events/Pages/hospital-drop-in-child-care.aspx to read details about the service and/or donate.

3. Light a Fire. We are a finalist for Portland Monthly magazine's Light a Fire award called, "Purely for the Love." We'll find out on Oct. 27 if we've won. Thanks to friends Shawn Jones and Erika Simms for getting us nominated!

4. It's official. Thanks to our pro-bono intellectual property attorney Chris Erickson at Tonkon Torp, MY LITTLE WAITING ROOM® is now a registered trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

5. Do You Tube? We tube. See inside our first location on Tony Martinez' Better TV story on our new YouTube channel. Visit us there at www.youtube.com/mylittlewaitingroom and hear one family's heartwarming story.

As always, thank you for your good wishes and support!

Amy & Melissa, Co-founders
My Little Waiting Room
http://www.mylittlewaitingroom.org/

Do you know a Pink Power Mom? Nominate her today!

Do you know a mom who is a breast cancer survivor who deserves recognition for her work in the community?

Through June 30 Bright Starts is accepting nominations for 2010 Pink Power Moms.

Nominate her at http://www.pinkpowermom.com/. If your nominee is chosen, My Little Waiting Room could receive $2,500 and she’ll receive $5,000 to donate to the charity of her choosing and pampering gifts just for her.

All you need to do is share a short essay (250 words or less) about the Pink Power Mom in your life:

• how she is an inspiration to her family, friends and community
• how she turned her experience into something positive and
• the work she does to remain involved with the cause.

Thanks to Bright Starts and this wonderful program, My Little Waiting Room has met some incredible people and received tremendous support and visibility over the past two years.  We look forward to meeting the 2010 Pink Power Moms and reading their inspirational stories!

Click for Good

Bright Starts will donate $1 to Pink Power Mom charities (that includes us!) for every new Facebook Fan who joins their site by June 30.

Click here to become a Bright Starts fan and help My Little Waiting Room bring drop-in childcare to families at the hospital.

Honor Your Mother, Help Another

Mother's Day is Sunday, May 9.  Honor your mom with a gift to My Little Waiting Room and help another mom.  Your gift is fully tax-decutible. Just $15 underwrites one hour of child care for a family in need.  We'll send her a special note letting her know that you've given a gift in her honor.  Now that's a gift that many mothers could love!  Click here to donate.

Now Open! My Little Waiting Room at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center Operated by Volunteers of America Oregon

It's been a three years in the making journey . . .  now we are so happy to report that My Little Waiting Room at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center is now open and serving families!

In our first week of operation, My Little Waiting Room served 28 families and 38 children, most of whom said that without this service, they would not have been able to get to their medical appointments. We heard many heartfelt stories that we look forward to sharing in the coming weeks and months.  We were just so glad to be there for them.

My Little Waiting Room at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center offers free on-site child care for families at the hospital and their visitors weekdays from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.  For more information or to make reservations, call 503-216-MLWR (6597), or visit www.providence.org/oregon/mylittlewaitingroom. 

The service is operated by Volunteers of America Oregon, a local non-profit organization with a depth of experience providing professional child care for families in need.  Volunteers of America Oregon has been working in partnership with My Little Waiting Room and Providence St. Vincent for more than a year to develop this offering.  They have skillfully navigated us through the oregon child care center certification process and have hired three delightful, paid, professional care givers to staff My Little Waiting Room.

So many organizations and individuals have come together to create this service for families in our community, and helped us dedicate and bless the space on March 18. It is thanks to all of these committed people that families in our community now have an easier path to health and well-being. 

This free service wouldn't be possible without donations to Providence St. Vincent Medical Foundation.  For information about how to donate, click here.