A Child's Haven - 46. Chapter 46

t was two more days before Patrick could come home. Jabir and Bubba went each day with me to visit. When they found out that Patrick would be coming home, they were very excited. On the appointed day, an ambulance was arranged by Aaron to pick him up at the hospital. When Christina said she would ride with him, Aaron got the infirmary ready to receive him. Amir was still sleeping in the infirmary, but we had another bed installed. Aaron had made arrangements with Dr. Franks to email him the monitored results daily. When the ambulance arrived, you would have thought it was a holiday. All 198 kids were out back, waiting for Patrick. When the gates opened to allow the ambulance, the kids held up signs that they made, welcoming Patrick home.

Aaron had the bed ready, and as soon as the stretcher carrying Patrick was pulled from the ambulance, I watched the drivers, Murray and O’Shea carry the stretcher and Patrick to the infirmary. “Tony, where did Murray and O’Shea come from? I didn’t see them this morning.”

“I don’t know. Maybe they followed the ambulance.”

“We need a lift from the ground to the level of the infirmary. We could build a ramp to permit access. I’ll talk to Abe; it can’t be that hard to make a frame and then fill it with concrete.”

Christine helped Aaron get Patrick in bed and hook him up to a machine that monitored his blood pressure. Patrick had a big smile on his face as Bubba and Jabir sat next to him on the bed.

Tony and I entered the infirmary just as Aaron was showing Christine the various monitoring equipment he had and the electronic patient data recording equipment. Between Janine and Aaron, we had the latest equipment and electronic patient filing system. Besides no paper files, the nice thing is that Aaron could send a patient’s file electronically to any hospital or doctor if needed.

I saw Aaron whispering to Christine. “Aaron said that you’re looking for nurses.”

“Yes, I’d like to get at least two, so we could cover at least two shifts. If I have only one, then they would have to agree to be on call. But I’d like to have two. There’ll be a bedroom complex on the top floor of the main building that would permit one of the nurses to spend a night here in case of an emergency. If you’d like a tour of the facility, I’ll be glad to show you.”

“I should go back with the ambulance.”

“Too late, the ambulance left 30 minutes ago. Why don’t you stay, I’ll give you the tour, and you can have dinner with us?”

She agreed, and I could see Aaron smiling.

“This is the main office building; it’s where I have my office as well as Tony, who handles all of our financial matters. At the very top is the Board room. The offices located on floors 4 thru 11 are for additional staff. I’d like to hire a counselor with experience in adolescent behavior problems. Many of these boys come with a terrible background, and I want to make sure there is no guilt on their part, and if they need help, it’s readily available. I also want to hire a doctor or at least one part-time. So those people will have offices as well. The main building houses the laundry, dining hall, and bedrooms. I hope you are in good shape because we’ll have to walk. The elevator is not complete and won’t be for a few weeks.”

As I was saying this, we were walking toward the main building. She had seen the cook shack, I didn’t mention it, but I was aware she saw it. “The showers and laundry are in what was once the basement.” Walking down the stairs, Corky’s mom was showing one of the girls how to operate the steam iron.

“The showers are completely private, one for the girls and one for the boys. Mrs. Adams is the manager and is teaching the kids how to do laundry as well as ironing. We have several ironing boards as well as the steam iron. The kids rotate working here. They put in approximately 4 hours per day, and with the number of kids living here, it means they work in this area about once every 2-3 weeks. My goal is that when a child leaves this place, they will be self-sufficient.”

Walking to the dining hall, “We have two permanent cooks, one student cook, and two dishwashers. Our head cook is Mrs. Jenkins, who has worked in a private home as a cook. The other full-time cook is the son of a gentleman who owns a pizzeria. A student cook is a young man who wanted to learn, and he’ll be going on to culinary school this year. The dishwashers are the kids, and that position is recycled, similar to the laundry. We have commercial dishwashers, so it doesn’t take them long to do the dishes.”

Walking up to the second floor, “When I bought this building, I had the second floor divided into three floors was. We call them 2A, 2B, and 2C. These three floors are identical and are the sleeping rooms for the kids.”

As we entered 2A, I showed her the laundry chute, the bathrooms, and led her to the cocoons. “This is the sleeping area for the kids. The two floors above are identical. There are 126 cubicles on each floor.”

I watched as she looked into one of the cocoons as we walked down the aisle. “Each of the sleeping rooms has a lounge area at the end; this one has games, video games and TV’s for DVD’s. There’s a popcorn machine as well. The other two floors, which can be reached through that stairwell, have a library and a gym equipped with machines design to provide exercise and not necessarily muscle building.”

“How did you find these cubicles, and are they comfortable?

“I borrowed the design from Japan, and actually, these were made in Japan. They’re used extensively for both visitors as well as business people there. The mattresses are dorm mattresses, so they are comfortable. I sleep in one on the third floor of the second floor, it’s a little confusing, but the numbering system simplifies it a little.”

“The next floor is where the school will be. I’m waiting for the elevator to be installed before we open the school.” Entering 3A, I showed her the classrooms and the teachers’ lounge area.

Walking to the next floor, “This floor is the halfway floor, halfway between dorm living and independent living.” I opened the nearest quad, “I call these units quads, they’re equipped with a kitchen and four bedrooms.”

Opening one of the rooms, “This is designed like a dorm would be. They are self-contained in the sense that all of them have closets and bathrooms.”

I watched her reaction as I showed her the quad. “The next floor is where the individual bedrooms for staff are being finished. Again they are not completed waiting for the elevator.” I opened the door to one of the rooms, showed her the closets and ensuite bathroom.

“There is plenty of space in these rooms to personalize. I’ll be moving into one of these rooms, and Aaron can have a room if he chooses. I’d utilize one room for any child who requires extensive bed care.”

She took her time looking the room over. I let her spend as much time as she needed. “What would the rent be for staying in one of these rooms?”

“There’s no rent, it’s one of the perks of working here. The person needs to understand that staff is paid monthly, which is not a 40 hours job. To make up for the extra time that may be required, there’s no rent, and meals are free. If you’re hungry and the cook shack is open after dinner, and you can go there, and they’ll prepare something for you to eat. This is a family, but I understand that there has to be some form of remuneration.”

Leaving 3C, “There’s one more floor I’d like to show you.” Walking to the roof, “I’m going to put a form of hanging gardens by hanging baskets on the sides of the building. They’ll be for the kids; they can grow flowers, plants, and vegetables. It’ll be their project. That lot you can see will have a trade school, and this other lot is still under development.”

“Do you have any questions?”

She shook her head, no. “Let’s go to the dining hall and have a coffee. Then I’ll arrange for you to get a ride back to the hospital.”

Walking into the dining hall, I spotted Murray and O’Shea at the coffee pot. “Murray, pour us a cup as well. There’s your ride back to the hospital.”

Taking our coffee from Murray, we sat down at one of the tables. I saw Bubba come in with Sandy. He saw me and waved. I waved back.

“Could you give Christine a ride back to the hospital?”

“Sure, I take it you’ve had the grand tour?”

“Yes, it was an eye-opener. I’m sure if some of the kids saw this, they’d want to be street kids.”

“No kid would want to be a street kid even with all of this if they knew what a street kid had to go through. This is my way of erasing as much of the bad as I can and filling the resultant blank spaces with love and good memories. So far, it’s working until a Patrick comes along and reminds them of what they went through. Tonight’s dinner will be designed to help them forget.”

“If other cities heard what he’s doing here, they would send their street kids here.”