A: Jesica's Hope Chest (JHC) is a (nonprofit) foundation for critically ill children. We help critically ill children and their families on many levels. For instance, a family with a critically ill child may qualify for some level of aid even if they have private medical insurance and/or medic-care or medic-aid. The foundation is designed to assist families of critically ill kids who are fully insured, uninsured or underinsured. While we cannot cover the total cost of all medical needs, we help families who have little or no additional help available to them for support and special financial needs which catastrophic illness places on the child as well as the family.
Our Mission is dedicated to helping critically ill children and their families with cost which are beyond what is normally covered by private insurance policies and/or government medical assistance programs. Through our "MONTHLY GRANT PROGRAM" we can help provide funds for such things as transportation to and from medical facilities, housing cost when treatment is at a hospital outside the local area. JHC can help supplement family income when a parent is unable to work and must remain at a child's bedside. We will also assist in locating appropriate health related information, (books, journals, internet information, etc). We will serve as liaison between patients and staff in the identification of potential patient needs, problems and/or complaints. In addition, we will help families purchase specialized equipment and formulas.
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Q: What is the History of Jesica's Hope Chest?

A:Jesica's Hope Chest, Inc. (a foundation for critically ill children) was conceived in May 2000 when Mack Mahoney, a custom homebuilder in Louisburg, NC met a little 14 year old Hispanic girl named Yesica Santillan. Yesica, is her given name, but she prefers the English pronunciation, "Jesica". Unfortunately, Jesica had a serious heart condition called 'Restrictive Cardiomyopathy', which means she would need a 'heart and lung transplant' within a couple of years, or she would die. Mr. Mahoney learned that it would require more than $500,000.00 to perform this extremely complex surgery and hundreds of thousands more would be needed for medications, which Jesica must take for the rest of her life.
With the knowledge that Jesica's parents had no money, no medical insurance and could not qualify for U.S. government programs, Mack Mahoney began searching for a way to save Jesica's life. He made contact with many local, business and community leaders to discuss various options. It was decided that a Non-profit organization would be the best way to raise the desperately needed funds. A volunteer board of directors was chosen to help with the decision making and fund raising efforts. Jesica would be the namesake for the (501 C-3) corporation as well as its first benefactor. Soon, Jesica's Hope Chest, Inc. (a foundation for critically ill children) was formed. Its mission is to aid as many critically ill children as there is funds available. But Jesica's 'heart and lung transplant' would be its first major effort. Soon it was time to seek a means in which to raise the money needed to save this brave little girl's life. Due to the huge amount of money needed within such a short period of time, fund raising' would prove to be a daunting task. In the beginning local 'fund raisers' were organized. It soon became apparent that this 'huge' amount of money was not going to be raised in this fashion. In desperation, the Foundation applied for a Grant from the local chapter of The United Way, but was turned down. Other 'grants' were awarded, but fell far short of the amounts needed. Many things were tried, nothing seemed to work!
Mack Mahoney, being a Homebuilder, one day found himself discussing the plight of this little girl with a few of his sub-contractors and it became clear that there was a way to raise the needed funds in time to save her life. Mack Mahoney and his wife, Nita went to work asking their Building Material suppliers to donate materials and their Sub-Contractors to donate their labor. At first the idea was to build two or three houses using as little cash as possible, sell the houses on the open market and use the proceeds to buy a heart for Jesica. Since Jesica's Hope Chest, Inc. was a '501C-3' corporation, every dollar donated would be 100% tax deductible to everyone who helped out. If this worked, the proceeds on each house would be huge enough to fund the lifesaving operation. Thanks to a wonderful group of North Carolina construction people, it did not take long to see that this approach was not only going to work, it was going to work very well! They decided to call the project, "Jesica's House".
Soon, the whole community was involved in the effort. Individuals, local business groups, Churches and many civic organizations were working to raise money for the first, "Jesica's House". Within a few months the project was finished and sold producing over $80,000.00 for Jesica's Hope Chest. As quickly as the first project was sold, a second project was started. As a result of the overwhelming success of Jesica's House, Jesica's Hope Chest was not only able to provide for Jesica, it was also able to start reaching out to help other critically ill children as well.
Sadly, in February 2003 Jesica lost her fight for life when she underwent a double lung/heart transplant operation at Duke University Hospital in Durham, NC. Due to a failure to follow proper standards and protocol, Duke doctors transplanted a heart and lungs of the wrong blood type into Jesica's otherwise healthy body. Jesica's tragic situation and her desperate need for new organs (of the correct blood type) was soon heard around the world. With the help of the news-media, her tragic plight was brought to the 'center of the world's stage in hopes of locating new organs. Thirteen day later the correct organs were located and transplanted into Jesica's 'now' frail body. Unfortunately the organs came to late to save her life, she died on February 22, 2003. Jesica's death prompted massive changes in organ transplant procedures and protocol throughout the medical community. But, like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, Jesica's death was not in vein. The tragedy caused a world-wide heightening of public awareness to the need for organ donation. Jesica will continue to reach out to critically ill children around the world, because through Jesica's Hope Chest, her legacy lives on.
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Q:#3. What are the "Jesica's House" projects?

A: The "Jesica's House" projects are 'Fundraisers', newly constructed homes which represent the foundation's main source of funding. A "Jesica's House" is a mostly "volunteer" project, built by the hands of "skilled" professional sub-contractors using as much "donated" labor and materials as possible. It is a quality built 'custom design-built' home in every aspect. A "Jesica House" is built using as little "cash" as possible. When completed the new home is sold on the "open" real estate market at or near its "appraised" value. Proceeds from the sale go directly into Jesica's Hope Chest to help critically ill children and their families cope with the burden of catastrophic illness in children.
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Q:#4. How many 'Jesica's House' projects do you plan to build?

A: Our long-range plan is to share the project with the National Homebuilders Association. The idea is to allow the Homebuilders Associations to use the Jesica's Hope Chest name for a "shared" fund-raising purpose. Each individual Association wishing to participate would enlist their own rank and file to organize "volunteer" sub-contract labor and "donated" materials. When the project is finished and sold, a portion of the proceeds could be directed to JHC and a portion could remain in the coffers of the participating HBA to be used to finance their next "Jesica's House" project and/or fund other charitable interest.
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Q:#5. Is the 'Jesica's House' project like Habitat for Humanity?

A: No! Jesica's House projects differ in many ways from Habitat for Humanity. The main difference is, Habitat Houses are built solely for low income families in need of housing, but cannot afford to purchase a starter home for the full market price. Jesica's Houses are higher quality homes that are built to be "sold" at market price. The proceeds from the sale go directly into JHC and are then used to aid families with critically ill children.
God bless the lucky family who purchases a "JESICA HOUSE". They can rest assured that their mortgage payment will account for more than just a house payment.
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Q:#6. How many children do you plan to help with Jesica's House projects?

A:Our intention is to help as many critically ill children and their families as we are able to raise money.
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Q:#7.Does JHC help critically ill children and their families in other countries other than the U.S.?

A: Yes! Jesica's Hope Chest is a foundation without borders, with our "MONTHLY GRANT PROGRAM" we are able to reach out to families with critically ill children throughout the world.
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Q:#8. What percentage of the money raised actually gets to the families of critically ill children?

A:Jesica's Hope Chest is a volunteer organization therefore 100% of the funds raised go directly to our kids with the exception of the dollars spent on our fund-raising efforts.
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