Meet Sammi.
Sammi is a mother first. When her third son was born with 22Q11.2 Deletion Syndrome, her family's journey included open-heart surgery, a tracheostomy, and a long hospital stay for herself, husband Luis, and two small children who were older brothers to their new infant before they could finally come home.
What came next was unexpected: the hardest part wasn't the medicine — it was finding nurses to keep their son safe. Agencies they worked with did not recruit nurses. Families were left to piece together care on their own, often while also caring for their child. Sammi and her husband posted in Facebook groups, called every agency in Idaho, interviewed nurses between hospital visits, and slowly — with a lot of luck and help from their best friend — built a care team.
She thought: this shouldn't be this hard.
Joy Care Unit exists to change that experience for the next family. We partner with families like ours to recruit skilled pediatric nurses, build stable care teams, and make home the place where children with complex needs can joyfully live.
What guides us
A few beliefs shape everything we do:
- Home is where children heal best. Children with profound medical needs deserve to grow up in their own homes, surrounded by family.
- Families are experts too. Parents of medically complex children know their child better than any agency ever will. We listen first.
- Good nursing takes active recruitment. Nurses don't just walk through the door. We find them, earn their trust, and give them reasons to stay.
- Care teams need to be stable. The single most important factor in quality pediatric home care is consistency. We build for the long term.
- Every child deserves joy. Medical complexity doesn't define a child. Our job is to create the conditions for them — and their families — to experience joy.