We would be honored to receive donations to Cocoon Academy & Developmental Center, helping Allie pursue her dream of creating and running a facility to provide a brighter future for children with medical complexities. Putting these generous wedding gifts to work will support (1) feasibility studies, (2) real estate development planning, (3) website development, (4) community outreach, and (5) curriculum and educational development. We have set up donations as a cash fund on our wedding website, being the most cost-effective way to accept early-stage online contributions. Alternatively, checks written to Cocoon Academy and Developmental Center and sent directly to us are greatly appreciated, as this eliminates all transaction fees! All donations are tax exempt under IRS section 501(c)(3), and we will transfer all funds to Cocoon Academy on a monthly basis. If you have questions about the project or would like to discuss in more detail, please reach out to Allie at allie@cocoonacademy.org. Cocoon Academy & Developmental Center is a residential school that serves children ages zero to six with medical complexities and their families. The goal of the school is to provide developmental, educational, and rehabilitative services to medically complex children who would otherwise be hospitalized or in a long term care facility. Building strong families is at the center of our mission. We work to empower biological families to build deep, caring relationships that lead to optimal outcomes following the transition home. We also strive to provide social services that lead to permanent placement for children who do not have biological families that are able to care for them. We aim to provide an environment that supports weaning from medical technology dependence to make the transition to home more manageable for caregivers. Existing long-term and transition-care facilities focus on survival, which comes at the expense of reaching the developmental potential of the children they serve. Cocoon Academy establishes an environment that maximizes developmental potential and early childhood education outcomes without sacrificing medical outcomes. An effective transition home from the hospital for a child with medical complexity is dependent on caregivers’ competence and confidence to care for their child, reliable child care, and consistent providers. Cocoon Academy provides families with the teaching, confidence, and consistency required for a successful transition home. In addition to the residential component of the Academy, it will also function as a specialized, community based preschool for children zero to six years old. The community based component merges the gap for many families in needing to start from scratch in building their network of support. Children will continue in their same classrooms and be able to continue to receive their developmental therapies from familiar providers. Additionally, families and children who did not require the residential aspect of Cocoon will also be able to benefit from the therapeutic environment the school provides. In the current environment, families are forced to navigate complex medical and education systems that run in parallel to one another. Cocoon Academy works to seamlessly integrate medical, rehabilitative, and early childhood educational services for children with medical complexities. This is a critical component to improving quality of life for children with medical complexities, providing holistic support to families to optimize long term functional outcomes. Cocoon Academy’s pilot school will be located in a community that has a disproportionate number of children with medical complexities, likely on the South Side of Chicago. The results of making Cocoon Academy a success is fostering healthier children and stronger families who otherwise face the most critical disparities in Chicago. This home blends the strengths of transitional medical care, early childhood education, consistent rehabilitation services, and social services to reach optimal outcomes. Families are unable to find services of this kind elsewhere.