What We Do

Community-based Collaborative C.A.R.E.

Our Mission

Eliana’s Light improves the quality of life for families that include children with medical complexity. We provide emotional, financial, and educational support to family members while connecting their caregivers to additional resources. We also regularly organize volunteer programs that build community and connection while raising awareness on these families and whole health care.

Eliana's Light is filling gaps in our nation's support systems that founder Whitney Ortiz experienced when taking care of her daughter, Eliana, who had a heart condition and transplant.

Eliana’s Light's collaborative “C.A.R.E” model works with medical centers, health care providers, housing assistance, and other specialists to give families the integrated and integrative support services they need. We hope to deepen our model within the Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia region and also scale it nationally. We invite your support and collaboration in all areas of our mission. 

We engage and collaborate with community members (e.g., medical and integrative care specialists, therapists, volunteers, donors, government agencies, support groups, and others) to support families by providing them with the personalized care they need. We call these community members “stars". These “stars” come together to comprise what we call “Constellations of Care” for a family. Each family’s Constellation of Care is unique and evolving -- as a family’s needs change so do their stars. These stars address the physical, mental, emotional, and financial needs of each family member. 

We take a personalized approach and use a Policy, Systems and Environment (PSE) lens while doing our work. This method recognizes the reality in which families live, work, attend school, and receive medical attention. It addresses the policies, systems, and the environment that affect a person’s whole health and well-being. 

A PSE approach is a “long-term approach that is designed to make a sustained improvement in community health, and builds on the cultural and social assets of the community. It has a greater chance of success, and empowers communities to take part in the process and advocate for their own health. It also fosters strategic public-private partnerships to improve the health of the community.” (source)

Our Vision

We are a go-to health and wellness support system and resource for families that include children with medical complexity. We improve each family member’s quality of life, wellness and well-being. By extension, we help the whole family unit. We recognize each member of a care team and their roles in transforming today’s health care system into one that focuses on the whole health of the whole family and each of its members through collaborative community-based support.

how we c.a.r.e.

We take a community-based, collaborative approach to C.A.R.E.

We C.A.R.E. within and alongside our Constellations of Care. We accompany families for as long as they’d like to stay connected to Eliana’s Light. When the family’s needs change, we help guide them to other support services that are relevant to their new needs. We do not provide technical expertise directly. We instead help connect caregivers to experts who are part of our Constellations of Care within our communities.

Connect

We connect to families where they are through our Constellation Kits, learning events, tip sheets, communications channels, and phone calls. We also connect families to resources, specialists, other organizations, and information that can help reduce their physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social, and/or financial stress. We build trusting, compassionate relationships with them through our shared humanity while we develop “Constellations of C.A.R.E.” through the collaborative community service activities we organize.

Advocate

We advocate for Integrative Medicine (IM), integrative care services, and integrated care coordination within pediatric medical facilities and as part of standard medical care, therapy programming and research initiatives. For example, we collaborate with hospital staff and with physical, occupational, feeding, and speech/language therapists on ways to incorporate mindfulness and integrative care services into their programming.

Raise Awareness

We raise awareness on whole health and related programming, approaches and strategies that help reduce stress, anxiety, pain, and fear, especially in regard to medical care and treatments.

Exchange

We serve on various advisory committees and manage one directly in order to exchange information and resources with local specialists in areas relevant to our mission.

We Invite You To Read Our First Annual Report, Second Annual Report & Third Annual Report. Please Share Your Feedback With Us.

Your ideas, suggestions and reflections mean a lot to us! Please email us at info@elianaslight.org. Thank you!

What Are Eliana's Light's Goals for 2022-2023?

We invite your engagement and collaboration as we:

• work virtually with families and partners due to COVID-19 restrictions.

• reach more of the most vulnerable families that include children with medical complexity in DC, Maryland, and Virginia.

• bring more integrative care services and a whole health approach to care to more families in our region while connecting them to essential resources, information, and specialists that can support them.

• raise awareness on and enhance understanding in integrative care services and holistic health care approaches that facilitate, support and promote whole health.

• connect to collaborators that want to work synergistically with us to build an evidence base of effective integrative care approaches for children with complex medical conditions and their caregivers.