52.7 F
Laguna Hills
Wednesday, Feb 12, 2025
-Advertisement-

Illumination Foundation Opens Recuperative Care Center

Unhoused children and their families that formerly had no place to go after being discharged from hospitals can now stay at a new recuperative care center that opened in Santa Ana.

Illumination Foundation this month opened its Children and Families Recuperative Care Center, which will provide temporary housing for at-risk children following hospitalization, as well as their families.

Unlike other recuperative care centers that typically cater to single individuals, each family will get their own room.

“The child who’s sick gets to be close to and stay in the same room as their mom and dad or sibling,” Chief Executive Dr. Pooja Bhalla told the Business Journal.

“That’s really essential because you can imagine, when you’re sick yourself, the anxiety you feel and as a child, being sick and not being with your family is even scarier.”

The center was made possible by a $3.5 million grant from CalOptima Health, which is part of a larger $25 million community program that the Orange-based public agency is distributing for transitional housing under California’s Housing and Homelessness Incentive Program (HHIP).

Illumination Foundation, founded in 2008, operates seven care facilities with more than 500 beds in Orange County, Los Angeles, Riverside County and San Bernardino.

Onsite Medical Team, Counseling

CalOptima’s funding enabled Illumination Foundation to purchase, renovate and expand the residential property.

The entire lot for the two-home property measures 14,560 total square feet, with one home taking up 1,820 square feet and the other 1,590 square feet.

At the recuperative care center, there is a 24/7 onsite medical team to take vitals and create a care plan for children. Each family is assigned a case manager to help them get access to work and food benefits, as well as a housing manager to help them find housing once they leave the center.

The center also offers trauma-informed counseling and classes on parenting and financial literacy.

In addition to providing $3.5 million in funding, CalOptima created a reimbursement model that will allow children and their families to stay at the center for up to 90 days.

“The recuperative care model has been around for a while, but there has never been an economic plan that figures out a rate that allows it to be economically sustainable,” Michael Hunn, CEO of CalOptima, told the Business Journal. “And we’ve figured that out.”

Illumination Foundation partnered with local hospitals such as Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) to have unhoused children referred to the center upon being discharged from the emergency room or hospital.

The center can house up to six families and is currently at max capacity. One of the families staying at the center includes a mother and her 11-month-old daughter who suffered from respiratory issues.

The completed center is the first phase of the project. Illumination Foundation is reportedly working with the city to obtain permits to expand so it can serve four additional families, making for 10 total families.

Need in Orange County

CalOptima has administered more than $140 million in community grants to date for homelessness with around $75 million coming from state tax dollars and $70 million supplemented by CalOptima’s board.

The money has helped support the construction of 1,220 affordable housing units for low-income individuals.

In Orange County alone, there are 34 community clinics and 17 federally-qualified health clinics that provide support to 400,000 of CalOptima’s members, according to Hunn.

“We want to support their efforts,” Hunn said.

“I think the big message for those out there at invest or do philanthropy in the community clinics or to the not for profits is that here in Orange County, the need is real.”

Want more from the best local business newspaper in the country?

Sign-up for our FREE Daily eNews update to get the latest Orange County news delivered right to your inbox!

Sonia Chung
Sonia Chung
Sonia Chung joined the Orange County Business Journal in 2021 as their Marketing Creative Director. In her role she creates all visual content as it relates to the marketing needs for the sales and events teams. Her responsibilities include the creation of marketing materials for six annual corporate events, weekly print advertisements, sales flyers in correspondence to the editorial calendar, social media graphics, PowerPoint presentation decks, e-blasts, and maintains the online presence for Orange County Business Journal’s corporate events.
-Advertisement-

Featured Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-

Related Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-