PIROGOV’S LITTLE HEROES: THE JOURNEY THAT STARTED IT ALL
Just like a pebble can start an avalanche, so a single occurrence can lead to substantive change. A casual “Hello. How are you?” early one Monday in 2016 at the America for Bulgaria Foundation offices unleashed an outpouring of corporate and private giving for the trans- formation of the children’s clinics at Pirogov Emergency Hospital into a welcoming envi- ronment for small patients and their families. A colleague’s child had been admitted to Piro- gov Hospital due to a medical emergency. The child’s fear of being unwell was compounded by the unwelcoming physical environment of the emergency admissions area. It is diffi-
cult for a child to understand that the gift of good care doesn’t always come beautifully wrapped! But it got the Foundation’s team thinking about whether there was something ABF could do to help. ABF’s dedicated professionals know a fair amount about building communities and man- aging significant projects, but not in health- care. To accelerate their learning, the team reached out to NGO partners, corporate cit- izens, the medical community, and public in- stitutions to partner in what became Little Heroes—a project to refurbish the children’s wards at Pirogov Hospital.
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