Risk & Business Magazine Knight Archer Insurance Magazine Fall 2017 | Page 3

Hope’s Home...
A Journey Of Hope
I
magine…your first baby. You are so
excited for their birth, the start of a
new family, a special addition to your
home. As new parents, you dream of
what that child’s life will mean. Who
will they look like? Act like? Who will they
grow up to be? We imagine our child’s life
filled with hopes and dreams. Yet this isn’t
always the case. Imagine as a new mom
and dad hearing your doctor tell you that
your child has a life-threatening condition
requiring 24-hour nursing care… that your
dream, your baby, has complex medical
needs.
In 2005 Jacqueline Tisher, a Registered
Nurse, took some time off from work in the
neonatal and pediatric intensive care to
help a family who had a child with complex
medical needs. She hadn’t planned on
taking more than a year before returning
to work. She is the founder/CEO of Hope’s
Home Inc., located in Regina, Prince Albert,
Saskatoon, and Warman, with a $10 million
budget that looks after children with
complex medical needs.
Tisher lost an 18-year-old daughter who
was born with spina bifida. “Being Acacia’s
mom and raising her gives me a personal
connection with the parents here,” said
Tisher. “I understand their story, their
journey.”
Hope’s Home is Canada’s first medically
integrated daycare. It operates four Early
Learning and Child Care Centres, two in
Regina, one in Warman and one in Prince
Albert, with plans to open in Saskatoon.
The Rosewood location (in Regina) and
Warman opened in September of this
year in partnership with the JUS (Joint
Use School) initiative with the Ministry of
Education.
As an integrated centre, Hope’s Home
provides care for 25 percent of our spaces
for children with complex medical needs
plus developmental needs while 75 percent
is for their siblings or children in our
communities.
In 2013 Hope’s Home opened their first
supportive living home in Regina as a long-
term placement for children with complex
medical needs in care of the Ministry of
Social Services. These children were living
in hospitals or long-term care facilities.
Today, Regina has an eight-bed supportive
living home with one respite bed, Prince
Albert location has a four-bed home and
Saskatoon has an eight-bed home.
Hope’s Home has grown very fast because
the of the great need. There is no other
community support for families who have
children with complex medical needs.
With the support of the Ministries of
Education, Social Services and Health
through Regina and Saskatoon Health
Regions, Hope’s Home provides vital
services in our province. About $600,000
is raised each year through donations and
special events like “Swinging with the
Stars” to pay for unfunded programs such
as respite, the recreational program plus
purchase specialized equipment.
Hopes Homes just grew. “We started with
one child and now there is licensed daycare
spaces for 360 children to attend our Early
Learning and Child Care Centre’s with
20 children calling Hope’s Home their
home. It is more than providing care –
Hope’s Home is made of staff who live their
passion and purpose by making a difference
in the lives of our children.”
Hope’s Home is a place that reminds our
families and children…there is no place like
Hope! +
Hope’s Home is named after Hope, a foster
daughter, also with spina bifida, who lived
10 months, entirely in hospital. “She’s the
inspiration of why we started Hope’s Home.
She helped us recognize that many families
don’t have the support they need to raise a
child with complex medical needs.”
Nathaniel and Chase
David and Maryn
3