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Incarnation Childrens Center
Established in the late 1980s at the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis, Incarnation Children’s Center (ICC) provides New York City children and adolescents living with the disease with skilled-nursing ...view moreEstablished in the late 1980s at the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis, Incarnation Children’s Center (ICC) provides New York City children and adolescents living with the disease with skilled-nursing services. The nonprofit is affiliated with the Archdiocese of New York’s Catholic Charities and follows a well-established, community- and family-based care model. Incarnation Children’s Center’s committed staff members emphasize an interdisciplinary approach that seeks to better the lives of pediatric patients in a variety of medical, therapeutic, and rehabilitative ways.
At the time of its establishment, ICC stood at the frontline of a dire situation in which the foster-care system was unable to deal with an influx of children that were HIV-positive and neglected or abandoned. These children spent extended periods of time in hospital wards. ICC successfully created a humane and homelike environment in which children with HIV/AIDS could live until a suitable foster care situation was found. After years of dedicated efforts, a robust network of foster parents developed, and families became available to those in need.
Incarnation Children’s Center next shifted its focus to assisting children who were caught between not requiring hospitalization and not being well enough for foster care. ICC developed an innovative, convalescent-care paradigm that assisted many children, presumed terminally ill, in recovering and returning to caring foster-home situations.
Since 2000, ICC has operated as a New York State Department of Health-licensed skilled-nursing facility with the capacity to comfortably care for more than 20 children. Encouraging community involvement, Incarnation Children’s Center welcomes volunteers to visit www.incarnationchildrenscenter.org and get involved with its efforts.view less