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Cy's Place | Our Future
A Place to Mend
Kids battling cancer or receiving bone marrow/organ transplants come to the Mayo Medical Center in Rochester, Minnesota from communities all over North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin - and the USA and the world.
The medical treatments that these children have to undergo often leave them with compromised immune systems. Extremely vulnerable to germs, these boys and girls need a super-clean place to stay and mend that is still within reach of their doctors and emergency medical facilities.
Cy's Place wants to build a new facility in order to make it possible to hold out a hand to more of these kids (and their families) by providing such a place.
In An Upside-Down World
Families with kids receiving cancer treatment or undergoing transplant surgery often have had their worlds turned upside down by a doctor in their hometown who said something like, "I think we need to send you to the Mayo Clinic." When they arrive in Rochester, these families are most likely still trying to understand what is happening to their child... and fearing the worst. They are scrambling to care for a sick kid in a world that is strange and bewildering even to kids who are at their best.
At the same time, these families are struggling to juggle the other details of their lives-jobs put on hold, tending to the needs of their other children, keeping everything in order back home, etc. They are forced into a world of keeping appointments, enduring treatments and seemingly endless hospital stays, having to trust medical professionals they have only just met, and living with tons of uncertainty.
These families are often financially fragile and, even more importantly, far away from the support networks on which they usually depend. They often don't even know what they really need, and if they do, they don't know where to turn for help or what kind of help is available. Cy's Place wants to hold out a hand to more of these kinds of families and stand with them as they sort through and manage their upside-down world
Holding Out A Hand
A warm hand that comes from having "been there" ourselves. Warm because we really do care. Warm because we want to work hard to create an environment where kids and their families can feel that they are not standing alone, can grow closer to each other and make new friends.
A secure hand. We want our guests to, in the midst of upheaval in many sectors of their lives, be able to count on accommodations that are welcoming, affordable, long-term, and home-like. We want them to have an environment that complies with CDC guidelines (for preventing infection in immuno-suppressed patients). Private apartments in our new facility will be designed with families and germ control in mind and will provide space where vulnerable kids can be isolated from outside germs.
A convenient hand. Our new facility will be conveniently located in a residential area close to shopping and eating establishments and ten minutes by car from most Rochester medical facilities. These new accommodations will be fully furnished and include a kitchen and living area. We plan to provide transportation to/from area medical facilities, insider advice on navigating around the Mayo complex, and assistance with family needs (i.e. babysitting during appointments).
Building a New Facility
In the near future, we plan to build a facility designed to fill a need that out-of-town, immuno-suppressed pediatric patients at Rochester area medical facilities have for lodging for extended periods of time.
Our new facility will be nestled in a quiet neighborhood just off 19th Street NW on Ashland Drive NW.
Join Us
Please help us build a new facility, one that will allow Cy's Place to accommodate up to five families in two-bedroom apartments. We already have a nine-acre piece of land in northwestern Rochester. The blueprints for constructing our new facility are in process and we are looking forward to helping more families.
We need many like-minded individuals and businesses to join the Cy's Place team by donating in small and large ways. We invite you to give a one-time or recurring gift.
Once the construction process is complete, we will need additional funds to cover some of our operating expenses. We will also be looking for people living locally in Rochester who are willing to join with our staff as volunteers in holding out a hand to our guests in a myriad of ways.
Details for Giving
Cy's Place is an IRS recognized public charity with 501(c)(3) status. Donations to Cy's Place are tax deductible.
Please send your check made out to Cy's Place to:
4221 1st Street NW
Rochester, MN 55901
Or donate online by clicking here!