Chai Lifeline: Description of Its Program Services Including Numeric Measures of Performance

This is number 1 in a series of five illustrations of the good and the bad in program service descriptions appearing in Internal Revenue Service Forms 990.

Chai Lifeline, Inc.

Chai Lifeline presents a description of its activities using a narrative that is “clear, concise, and complete” and which provides “specific measurements” of performance as required by the Internal Revenue Service instructions.

See Descriptions of Charity Programs: What the IRS Wants for a more detailed description of IRS requirements for charities to describe programs on their Forms 990. Charities frequently do not meet these requirements.

First program. CHAI LIFELINE OPERATES TWO SUMMER CAMP PROGRAMS ON ONE CAMPUS FOR SERIOUSLY ILL CHILDREN CAMP SIMCHA PROVIDES VACATIONS TO CHILDREN AND TEENS WITH CANCER AND OTHER BLOOD-BASED ILLNESSES CAMP SIMCHA SPECIAL IS DESIGNED TO MEET THE MEDICAL AND SOCIAL NEEDS OF CHILDREN AND TEENS WITH MULTIPLE, DISPARATE CHRONIC ILLNESSES AND/OR DISABILITIES EACH CAMP RUNS TWO, TWO-WEEK SESSIONS EVERY SUMMER AT THEIR 125-ACRE, FULLY HANDICAPPED ACCESSIBLE CAMPGROUND IN GLEN SPEY, NY ACTIVITIES INCLUDE ADAPTED SPORTS, SWIMMING (INCLUDING RED CROSS INSTRUCTION), BOATING, CRAFTS, WORKSHOPS, AND SPECIAL EVENTS LIKE CONCERTS AND SHOWS THE GOALS OF THE CAMPS ARE TO FACILITATE INDEPENDENCE, BUILD SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL AND DAILY LIVING SKILLS, ENHANCE KNOWLEDGE OF ONE’S ILLNESS AND CAPABILITIES, AND ENCOURAGE THE DEVELOPMENT OF FRIENDSHIPS AND SUPPORTIVE RELATIONSHIPS THAT CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR POST-CAMP SURVEYS INDICATE THAT ALMOST 89% OF CAMPERS HAVE MADE FRIENDS AND FEEL BETTER ABOUT THEIR ILLNESSES AFTER ATTENDING CAMP IN 2017, 493 CAMPERS ATTENDED CAMP SIMCHA/CAMP SIMCHA SPECIAL

Second program. CHAI LIFELINE PROVIDES EMOTIONAL AND SOCIAL SUPPORT FROM THE MOMENT OF DIAGNOSIS THROUGH TREATMENT AND RECOVERY WHEN CHILDREN ARE CHRONICALLY ILL, CHAI LIFELINE’S INTERVENTION CONTINUES UNTIL THE CHILD REACHES 21 GOALS INCLUDE ENABLING THE FAMILY UNIT TO CONTINUE TO FUNCTION DURING MEDICAL CRISES, PROVIDING IN-HOSPITAL SUPPORT TO PATIENTS AND CAREGIVERS, AND BRINGING JOY AND HOPE TO YOUNG PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES INITIAL SUPPORT BEGINS WITH A CASE MANAGER’S EVALUATION THAT IDENTIFIES NEEDS AND SUGGESTS PROGRAMMATIC RESPONSES IN 2017, CHAI LIFELINE PROVIDED EMOTIONAL, SOCIAL, AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO 5400 FAMILIES THROUGH REFERRALS, INFORMATION AND ADVOCACY CONTACTS, 7,290 VOLUNTEER VISITS RAISED SPIRITS AND OFFERED NEEDED RESPITE TO PARENTS STANDING VIGIL AT CHILDREN’S BEDSIDES, 11,247 RIDES BY VOLUNTEERS OR CHAI LIFELINE VAN TO MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS, THUS FACILITATING TREATMENT COMPLIANCE, 79,271 HOT MEALS THAT WERE TASTY ALTERNATIVES TO HOSPITAL FOOD FOR PATIENTS AND ALLOWED CAREGIVERS TO EAT NUTRITIOUSLY WITHOUT LEAVING A CHILD’S BEDSIDE, 730 HOURS OF INSURANCE ADVOCACY THAT HELPED 220 FAMILIES UNDERSTAND THEIR COVERAGE, FIGHT DENIALS AND TURNDOWNS, AND COMPLETE PAPERWORK ACCURATELY, AND 457 OVERNIGHT VISITS AT THE CHAI HOUSE FOR FAMILIES WITH LOVED ONES AT THE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA

Third program FAMILY AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMS THESE PROGRAMS HELP YOUNG PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES LIVE AS NORMALLY AS POSSIBLE WHILE FIGHTING ILLNESS BY ENHANCING EMOTIONAL AND SOCIAL BONDS IN THE PAST YEAR, 380 BIG BROTHERS AND SISTERS WERE MENTORS TO ILL CHILDREN AND SIBLINGS 293 RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR PATIENTS, SIBLINGS, PARENTS, AND FAMILIES OFFERED OPPORTUNITIES FOR FRIENDSHIP AND SUPPORT 34 HOLIDAY PARTIES AND FAMILY DAYS GAVE 8,796 CHILDREN AND FAMILIES A CHANCE TO CELEBRATE TOGETHER SIBLINGS WERE ABLE TO DEVELOP PEER FRIENDSHIPS WITH OTHERS LIVING WITH ILLNESS OR LOSS IN THEIR HOMES AT 120 SIBLING ACTIVITIES 728 HOURS OF COUNSELING HELPED FAMILIES RETURN TO PREVIOUS LEVELS OF FUNCTIONING MORE THAN 651 HOURS OF TUTORING AND WEBCAM CONNECTIONS BETWEEN SCHOOL ROOMS AND HOSPITAL ROOMS EASED THE WAY BACK TO SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN INCAPACITATED BY ILLNESS 354 CRISIS INTERVENTION WORKSHOPS, PRESENTATIONS, AND MEETINGS WITH FAMILIES, SCHOOLS, AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS

Other pages in this section The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research describes its activities but does not provide quantitative measures of its performance, American Friends of the Israel Museum grants the Israeli Museum tens of millions annually, but describes its accomplishments in the same 16 words each year, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger describes its large number of programs in a single unreadable paragraph of over a thousand words, Yad Ezra V’Shulamit describes programs of its Israeli beneficiary without ever mentioning its own programs.