This past April 5-year-old Mia and her family were in a tragic car accident where two of her siblings and grandfather passed away. Mia, another sibling, and her mom were taken to the hospital for medical care. Mia sustained a broken leg as well as burns, going down her backside from her neck down to her left leg. Mia and her sibling were rushed to the Phoenix Children’s Hospital where her broken leg was attended to. When Mia was stable, she was transferred to the Valleywise burn center for specialized care. Mia’s family was referred to ABF to assist with supporting the family while Mia was hospitalized. Through ABF’s Client Care Services, Mia’s family received rental assistance as both parents had to take time off of work while she was recovering. They received additional aid through gas cards and meal vouchers to alleviate financial strains from multiple trips to and from the hospital. After 40 days of healing through surgeries, wound care, and physical therapy Mia was discharged home.

While Mia was getting stronger, her family, was feeling concerned about her starting kindergarten this year and how other kids would react to what happened to her. ABF offered additional support to address this concern through the School Re-entry Program. The goal of this program is to ease burn survivor’s transition into school by informing classmates about their burn injury, encouraging students to be empathic and understanding of difference among each other, as well as provide education on burn prevention. ABF’s Client Care Team worked with Mia’s family to create a story that tells Mia’s burn injury story so that anyone’s curiosity about what happened can be addressed in a respectful and informative manner. Through this presentation, Mia can go into this school year feeling supported by her classmates so she can focus on learning and having fun.