LilyPads Housing

About LilyPads Housing

Every child deserves a caregiver by their side — especially when they’re in the hospital. But for far too many families, the cost of meals, lodging, and daily essentials can become an overwhelming burden during an already devastating time.

At LilyPads, we believe no family should have to choose between financial strain and staying close to their child.

That’s why we provide free lodging, warm meals, essential supplies, comfort items, and community support to families with children receiving medical care at UVA Children’s Hospital in Charlottesville, VA.

Our Mission

To offer comfort and care to every family navigating the unthinkable — so they can focus on what matters most: their child’s healing.

We do this through:

• Free overnight lodging with volunteer host families
• Meal assistance via grocery cards, meals, and snack bags
• Our Care Cart, delivering daily essential and comfort items to inpatient families — from toothpaste to cozy socks to sibling activity kits
• Connection and community, offering emotional support, resources, and dignity during crisis
• Hope in action, creating moments of joy like holiday surprises, birthday boxes, and craft kits

Everything we do is powered by the kindness of volunteers, donors, host families, and partner organizations who believe that love can change lives — one family at a time.

Your Impact

• $25 provides snacks and comfort items for one hospital room
• $50 covers a week’s worth of grocery support for a parent bedside
• $100 houses a family for a night near the hospital
• $500 stocks the Care Cart for a full day of visits
• $1,000 covers a week of care for multiple families in crisis

Every donation — big or small — sends a powerful message: you matter, and you’re not alone.

Why LilyPads Was Started

Our founder's family has spent much time at UVA Children’s Hospital (and Boston Children's Hospital) when their daughter, Lily, was little and fighting for her life. The medical care was excellent — but the days were long, the nights were sleepless, and the costs piled up fast. They often felt like they were alone and drowning.

That’s where the seed for LilyPads was planted.

They wondered, what if there was a better way?
What if families had a soft place to land — a real bed, a warm meal, someone to say, “Hey, you’re not alone”?

LilyPads was born out of that question. Out of the memory of sleeping upright in a hospital chair. Out of the hope that no parent would ever again have to choose between being with their child and affording a place to sleep.

The name LilyPads comes from the way lily pads float in stillness, giving aquatic life a place to rest, above the water. That’s what we offer families: a soft place to land, full of love and care.

Join Our Village

At LilyPads, we believe care is a community effort — a village built on kindness, compassion, and the belief that no one should face crisis alone.

By joining our village, you help create a world where:

• Parents can stay close to their child without worrying about where they’ll sleep.
• Hospital rooms feel less like waiting spaces and more like places of comfort.
• Siblings are remembered, caregivers are supported, and families feel the warmth of community.

Your generosity — whether it’s $10, $100, or simply sharing our story — becomes a lifeline. A reminder that behind every hospital door, there’s a village surrounding them with love.

Give comfort. Share hope. Be part of our village.
With you, we can make sure every family has a soft place to land.