House of Love

by Carol La Valley

Children’s voices peal with laughter, and the wind caresses their faces as they slip down the slide in the backyard of Ryan House. Inside the house, a child splashes his feet in the warm water therapy pool, and when the water droplets land on his friend, the friend splashes back.

Ryan House is the only place of its kind in the Southwest that offers short-term respite care and end-of-life care for children who have been diagnosed with a life-threatening condition. It is a place where a child can shake a tambourine in the music room, spread out crayons in the art room to better choose the perfect color, or scratch behind the ears of one of the pet therapy animals as it nuzzles the child’s hand.

The first-floor Phoenix campus opened March 29, six years after Jonathan and Holly Cottor began the grassroots effort to make people aware of the need that a house dedicated to children would fill. The house has themed bedrooms and a fully equipped playground to provide happy hours for children while their families take a break from the strains of continuous care. There is only one other home of this kind in the United States.

“Respite care for children and their families is such a new concept in the United States,” says Nancy Martin, executive director of Ryan House.

Ryan House serves children birth through age 16. There are three family rooms in addition to eight private bedrooms. “We require that families stay at least the first night with their child to train the staff to care for their child the way they care for their child at home,” Martin says. “That way, it is a seamless transition.”

The Cottors were living and working in England when Holly gave birth. The child was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy. Health care providers referred them to one of the 40 houses in England that specialize in respite care and palliative care for children and their families.

“Here the Cottors are, away from family and frightened as you can only imagine, to leave their baby in another’s care,” Martin says.

The Cottors were referred to Helen House in Oxford, where the excellent service and support they received prompted them to start talking to people when they returned to Arizona. What would it take, they wondered, to create such a facility?

“Ryan House is 100 percent donor funded,” Martin says. “We are hoping to change the way things are done. There is lots of interest in the community, but we have to educate public and private insurance payers about the benefits of respite for the families and the children. Straight donations are what it will take to sustain operations at Ryan House.”

The Grandmothers Guild was formed in support of Ryan House. This year, the guild purchased a light board for the Ryan House great room. “It has turned out to be one of the highlights for the children,” says Judy Shannon, a guild member and board chair. “It’s a large interactive board with lots of colored lights that are designed to stimulate the viewer or participant.”

Hospice of the Valley partners with Ryan House and is located on the second floor at the same address. If a child “ages out” of Ryan House, he or she is moved to a new room on the second floor, and a pediatric bed becomes available for another child. There are advantages to living in the same building: the child has continuity with friends and can still enjoy activities in the sensory, art, and music rooms. The staff of Ryan House is there for the patient’s entire journey.

“May the day come when these houses are everywhere,” says “Charlie the Chaplain” Coppinger. “Where families can bring their child and know that the child is safe, and loved, and cared for while they have a respite form the stress. Then, when that terrible, terrible day comes, the family can be surrounded by peace and love.”

Visit ryanhouse.org to view the current wish list for Ryan House. A contact form for services is also on the Web site, or you can contact Ryan House at 110 W. Merrell St., Phoenix, AZ 85013. Mailing address: P.O. Box 16234, Phoenix, AZ 85011-6234. Phone: (602) 200-0767.