A smile in hard times: Jim and Nancy Cleveland help children find joy through Child Life care

Nancy and Jim Cleveland see the value in services that improve kids’ medical experiences.

What inspires people to give? For some, it’s a personal experience. For others, like Jim and Nancy Cleveland, it’s a moment that opens their eyes to a need.

At The Country Club of Hudson, a group hosted an event featuring a performance by kids in palliative care at Akron Children’s. “It was moving to see these children who are going through the roughest times in their lives smiling and enjoying life,” said Jim. “These children aren’t in sports or school clubs, but they were given the chance to do something that brought joy to them — and to us.”

Moved by that experience and conversations with Akron Children’s Foundation, the Clevelands recently donated $100,000 to support the services that helped those children. They established the Jim and Nancy Cleveland Fund to support Child Life and Expressive Therapies.

Beyond clinical care

Child life care helps kids and families overcome challenges and cope with the stress of medical experiences. Child life specialists receive extensive training in human growth and development, education, psychology and counseling so they can work individually with patients and families to help reduce the mental and emotional stress of medical care.

For children who are having procedures or have complex medical issues, the child life team delivers emotional support during medical tests and procedures. They also use the arts or other methods of expression to help kids process their feelings while keeping an element of fun in their lives.

The child life team also helps parents and caregivers understand what’s happening with their child through education, conversation and often serving as a liaison with the providers treating their child.

“Sometimes we’re meeting families on the worst day of their lives. We come alongside them as a support person who can help unscramble all the medical jargon,” said Renee Redenshek, certified child life specialist in the Showers Family Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders. “We help families navigate all parts of the health care experience.”

Individual attention

The variety of activities offered to groups and patients inspired the Clevelands, including:

• Therapeutic play
• Music therapy
• Guided relaxation techniques
• Art therapy
• Breathing and imagery
• Pet therapy
• Pain management techniques

Each child and family is different. The child life team spends time understanding each circumstance to deliver the most appropriate services.

“These programs aren’t covered by insurance. We were surprised to learn that there aren’t many donors who give to this program,” said Jim. “We hope that our gift will inspire others to help expand these services, which we believe are critical to the kids in the hospital.”

Jim and Nancy, who live in Hudson and have been married for 36 years, have deep roots in northeast Ohio. Jim grew up in Youngstown and worked in and led several northeast Ohio tech companies before founding E-Waste, a computer and electronics recycling and reclamation company.

“We’re so fortunate to have expert specialists, research and clinical care for children — right here in Akron. If you want to put a smile on a hurting child’s face, this is the program that can do it, “he said. “Every good idea needs money. I hope others will join us.”