Positively Kids freely cares for most medically fragile children
Fred Schultz's pitch is simple. If you have a medically fragile child who needs home health care or medical day care, or you need a break, Positively Kids has vacancies. Most of the care would be provided free by the little-known Las Vegas nonprofit.
Free and available? Sounds too good to be true.
Positively Kids isn't one of Las Vegas' high-profile nonprofits. I had never heard of it, although I vaguely recalled its annual fundraiser, the Duck Derby.
"We're not marketed like a new Italian restaurant or ice cream shop. We're under the radar," said Schultz, who started the nonprofit 10 years ago. "The general population is not concerned about sick children, unless they have one."
Positively Kids serves the most fragile of our children, such as:
• A boy who at age 9 weighed 25 pounds because his mother neglected him. Now he's in foster care.
• A 3-year-old boy shot by his mother. Now a quadriplegic, his medical needs are so complex his dad can't handle them without help.
• A 14-year-old girl run over by a truck. She was hospitalized for months then discharged on a ventilator with casts and IVs.
• A 10-year-old boy with cerebral palsy whose mom was kicked in the stomach during her pregnancy. Now she works to raise her son, who can't swallow and requires a feeding tube and a wheelchair. She has two other children. Without respite care, she couldn't work.
Families can do so much, but these are kids who need specialized nursing care and therapy. Positively Kids provides it.
Schultz started Positively Kids out of the trunk of his car, using his cell phone and the fax machine at Office Depot to send out two employees. Now there's a staff of 32, an operating budget of nearly $800,000, and new programs on their way.
Before that, these children most likely would have been sent out of state for their long-term care. Nevada was paying about $7 million a year to other states to care for our most medically fragile children, because Nevada lacked in-state care for children in their condition.
Schultz started by providing home care services and gradually added programs.
Right now, Positively Kids provides home care to 75 children. There is room for another 25 or 30 on this program, which is licensed by the state.
While 50 people are using the skilled respite program, Positively Kids could handle another 50. With feeding tubes and IVs, these are not children who can be left with someone without specialized medical skills.
About 20 children are in the day care program. Another 20 could be. The day care program uses existing day care programs around the valley and sends one nurse to supervise six of the ones with medical issues.
Schultz has big plans for the future. The city of Henderson has donated 3.5 acres for a $25 million, 70-bed facility. Schultz said funding from a Housing and Urban Development program will cover construction costs. That's the future.
For now, his priority is spreading the word that there are vacancies in the existing programs. The Web site is www.positivelykids.org and the phone number is (702) 262-0037.
While insurance picks up some costs, Schultz said 90 percent of the services are free.
The funding comes from private fundraising as well as grants from the state, the city of Las Vegas, and the MGM Mirage Voice Foundation.
The need is there. The service is there. But Positively Kids still has vacancies.
If you know of someone who could use Positively Kids' programs, tell them. Don't let a family miss out because someone didn't read today's newspaper.
Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/morrison.
