– This is going to be House with a capital D. No hospital rooms, but rooms with colored walls. Without impersonal tables or chairs, but with comfortable armchairs and student desks. We want to give children with cancer the feeling that their childhood dreams have not been crossed out. We talk with Karol Czernecki, founder and president of the Z Serca Dla Serca Foundation, about a beautiful idea.
Mr. Karol, you are the founder and president of the Z Serca Dla Serca Foundation, two-time Man of the Year in Northern Subcarpathia in the “Social and charity activity” category in the “Echoes of the Day” plebiscite, and now you are building the House of Angels. Where did the 29-year-old get the “bug of goodness” from?
It’s a hard question. I was just brought up this way, and what I received from my parents, I try to pass on. I have decided to become a nurse for a reason, and my work has always been a vocation rather than a profession to which I devote myself from Monday to Friday. I think that especially today, when we live in a constant hurry and are in a hurry, we are focused on work and career, we begin to appreciate the importance of simple gestures that can carry a lot of emotions. We can see it perfectly on the example of cancer – what cancer patients lack the most is support, closeness to another human being, a kind word. Even today, I spoke to friends in the hospital about the patient getting the result and being alone with him. Doesn’t know how to live …? Doesn’t know what to do next? He is devastated, embittered, angry with the whole world … There is a strong fear, anger, regret, sadness, sometimes depression. And he should be made aware that these unpleasant emotions are part of the disease and some of them may accompany the patient all the time.
Do you still work in the hospital?
Not anymore, at some point it became impossible to reconcile everything. Our Foundation runs a home hospice. For today, however, we do not have a contract with the National Health Fund. We try to help both children and the elderly, meeting the expectations of society, i.e. the need for care close to home. We realize that the family is not always able to provide patients with adequate help and support. The more so as young people are mainly work-oriented and often the closest relatives fall into the background.
Wisława Szymborska wrote that “we know as much about ourselves as we have been tested”. I know that you have experienced the illness of a loved one …
True, my grandmother fell into a coma after she choked on a piece of bread. She died three months later. For one day she stayed in a hospice, where I had the opportunity to visit her. Modest, unremarkable place like many places, but what touched the heart was the kindness of the staff. Empathy, communication, calling yourself by name. And although my grandmother, due to the lack of vacancies, was lying in the corridor, every now and then someone would come up to her, look after her, check if she needed anything. We must not forget that healthy and sick people see the world differently and have different priorities. What we do not see or do not matter to us may be the whole world for them. Time spent together, an hour of conversation longer, an hour of holding a hand are invaluable to them.
The mission of the Z Serca dla Serca Foundation is to build the Hospice House of Angels – what is this place?
This is a home for children with cancer, and I use the word “home” on purpose, not a hospital or hospice that we often associate with a dying house. We build the House of Angels with the thought of “little patients”, but also their parents. Because, unfortunately, the diagnosis of cancer in a child changes family life. There are new challenges and priorities need to be reevaluated. One parent usually quits work, the other takes on the burden of maintaining the house. And yet there are often other children in the family who also need to be given time and attention. Sometimes parents need a break. In Poland, however, we do not have places where you can leave a sick child for two or three days and simply rest, knowing that the “little patient” is in good hands. In our “house” there will also be guest rooms for parents.
Today, each of us can join the great mission of the Z Serca dla Serca Foundation and change the lives of children suffering from cancer for the better. Just go to the website: https://www.siepomaga.pl/domaniolkow and make your donation. Our little gesture is a great help for others.
You said that it would be a different place – what else will make the House of Angels stand out on the oncomap?
First of all, we will try to restore childhood interrupted by the disease, i.e. create an environment in which they will feel comfortable, and at the same time guarantee them the highest level of medical, psychological and spiritual care. In the House of Angels, there will be no hospital rooms, only double or triple rooms with colorful walls. There will also be no impersonal tables or chairs, but comfortable armchairs and student desks. We want to give them the feeling that their childhood dreams have not been crossed out at all.
How many “little patients” will be able to live in the House of Angels?
Approximately 40. The area of the entire plot is 1,5 ha, 0,5 ha will be occupied by a hospice house, and the rest will be allocated to a park and a playground.
I know that the location is not accidental – why Zaleszany?
This is one of the white spots – a place at the junction of three provinces: Świętokrzyskie, Podkarpackie and Lubelskie, where there is no palliative medicine department or children’s hospice. Parents have to walk about 80-100 km one way to their children in the hospital, wasting precious time with their angels. We want to change that and build a hospice closer to their homes.
When was the idea itself born?
Since the foundation of the Foundation in 2013, we have tried to support the sick, primarily with children in mind. Hence, we have repeatedly organized Santa Claus campaigns for “little patients” of local hospitals. On the other hand, the idea of building the House of Angels was born a few years ago. Of course, moments of crisis could not be avoided – there was even a moment when I said to myself: Let us give it up, we will not be able to cope with it ourselves. And then a donor appeared who donated us 200. zlotys for the purchase of a construction project. It was a sign that we must continue. In 2018, we received a building permit, and in 2020 we started work. In August, the area for the building was pulled out and the earthworks started.
In the meantime, two donors appeared: one donated to us 10 and the other 20. ceramic blocks. I hope that at the beginning of August we will start the construction of the shell, currently we need money for the ceiling, which will cost about half a million, and the roof – twice as much.
How can readers support the idea of building the House of Angels?
In fact, we have many forms of help and everyone can choose something for themselves. Due to the pandemic situation, we have recently focused primarily on online fundraising, one of them has been launched at: https://www.siepomaga.pl/domaniolkow. In the near future, probably in autumn, we will try to organize a charity campaign on the allegro.pl portal with gifts from people from the world of politics, media and sports.
Fundacja Z Serca Dla Serca is not only the House of Angels, I would like to ask about a fundraiser for children who lost their parents in a car accident in Stalowa Wola …
Building the House of Angels is our priority, but we really try to help others as much as possible. In this case, it was a heart reflex – we know that nothing can fill the void of losing beloved parents, but we can support orphaned children. The collected money will help them pursue their dreams and plans in the future, gain successes and perhaps in the future, proud of their own achievements, they will say to themselves: mom, dad, it’s for you. Our goal was to collect 50. in 30 days, and we managed to collect almost 1 in one day! I think it’s a Polish phenomenon – we are a nation that sometimes hates and sometimes helps. And it is beautiful that we are going in the right direction more and more often. Because good will always defend itself and come back to the donors.
When will the House of Angels accept the first “little patients”?
If it were up to me, I would say today, but it all depends on the support we get. Given that NGOs have limited room for maneuver, I assumed from the outset that we would need around 3-5 years. Currently, the stick is in the hands of people of good will who are close to hospice work.
Read also:
- How can you help a loved one with cancer? Certainly not to deny it
- The five most common cancers in children
- The doctor explains the most common symptoms of cancer
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