Medical Mom Village

10/11/2026

💗 Medical moms, this one is for YOU! 💗

I want to take a moment to share something that I genuinely believe in and wish had existed when Charlie and our family were in the thick of our medical journey.

My sweet friend Ky Kinley, the mama behind RaisingKinleys, officially launched her new app, Advocate Like A Mother, on October 6th! 🎉

If you’ve ever found yourself juggling countless specialists, medications, appointments, medical terminology, insurance battles, and the overwhelming responsibility of keeping your child’s entire medical history organized, you know just how exhausting it can be.

I remember those days all too well. The endless questions, the medical jargon I didn’t understand, the constant feeling that I needed to know EVERYTHING because advocating for Charlie depended on it. And somehow, in the middle of all that chaos, I was supposed to remember to take care of myself, too.

This is exactly why I love what Ky has created.

Advocate Like A Mother was designed by a fellow medical mama who also happens to be a licensed mental health therapist. It brings together practical tools, personalized guidance, medical organization, appointment preparation, advocacy resources, and emotional support into one place.

And what I appreciate most? It recognizes that medical parents need support, too. Not just another checklist of things we should be doing, but actual resources to help lighten the mental load we carry every single day.

As the founder of Medical Mom Village, I am always looking for ways to connect our families with resources that can genuinely make their lives a little easier. This is absolutely one of them.

I know firsthand how isolating and overwhelming medical motherhood can be, especially in those early days when you’re trying to navigate a world you never expected to be part of.

I can’t go back and give myself the resources I needed during Charlie’s eight-month NICU stay, but I can certainly help make sure another mama knows they’re available to her now. ❤️

Ky, I am so incredibly proud of you for taking your personal experiences, your professional knowledge, and your passion for helping medical families and turning them into something so meaningful.

To all my medical mamas, I encourage you to check out Advocate Like A Mother!

Because our children deserve the best advocates possible, and those advocates deserve support, too. 💗

10/09/2026

🚨 TEXAS MEDICAL FAMILIES NEED YOUR VOICES! 🚨

Village, this is important, and it affects families who depend on the resources that allow their medically complex children to receive care safely at home.

Texas is proposing changes to the Medically Dependent Children Program (MDCP) that could make it significantly harder for medically fragile children to qualify for the care and resources they desperately need.

We’re talking about home health nursing, medical equipment, specialized nutrition, therapies, medications, and the support that allows families to care for their children at home rather than in a hospital or nursing facility.

These are not luxuries. These are lifelines.

While one proposed change would eliminate the overnight nursing facility stay requirement, other changes could introduce stricter medical qualifications and limit access to the program.

And here’s something especially concerning:

In the last fiscal year, 239 Texas children qualified through the current limited-stay pathway. The proposed replacement would provide just 120 slots annually.

That’s a significant difference, and behind every single one of those numbers is a child and a family.

As a medical mom myself, I know firsthand what it takes to bring a medically complex child home. I know what it means to depend on nursing, equipment, therapies, and resources that most families never have to think twice about.

And I know how hard our children fight to make progress.

Our children should not be penalized for getting better, nor should their families have to fight even harder to access medically necessary care.

One of our very own Village volunteers, Natalia Nagy, is actively advocating for these families and helping spread awareness about the proposed changes. I’m incredibly grateful for her dedication to protecting our children. ❤️

📢 HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP:

🗓️ Public Hearing: Monday, October 12, at 10:00 AM.

⏰ Deadline to register to testify virtually: Sunday, October 11, at 5:00 PM.

✍️ Written public comments: Can also be submitted before the deadline.

You do not have to be directly affected by these changes to speak up. If you love a medically complex child, know a family who depends on these programs, or simply believe children deserve access to the care they need, your voice matters.

Natalia has also provided a sample public comment that families can personalize and submit. We’ll share that information in the comments.

Medical Mom Village was built on the belief that no medical family should have to navigate this journey alone. That includes standing together when the resources our children depend on are at risk.

Please share this post, spread awareness, and help us make sure these families are heard.

Because it takes a Village. ❤️

Last fiscal year, 239 children qualified for the Medically Dependent Children Program (MDCP) through the Money Follows the Person nursing facility limited-stay pathway. It is the only route for the most medically complex children to bypass years waiting on the interest list without spending 30+ days in a nursing facility first. Some are on ventilators or feeding tubes. Others don't fit neatly in any box—children with rare and undiagnosed disorders, children in active cancer treatment, children with no immune system, children with uncontrolled seizures and degenerative conditions, whose needs a list was never going to capture. Kids who would likely be in an ICU or intermediate care unit if they were hospitalized. Their parents are providing that level of care at home.

MDCP is what makes it possible to provide and sustain a hospital level of care at home--at a fraction of what institutional care costs the state.

Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) is replacing that pathway. The new NF diversion process makes 120 slots available for the year.

Uptake rates for the current limited-stay pathway have gone up every year since FY23, when 124 children qualified--and these numbers only represent the families who actually made it all the way through a lengthy eligibility process and were approved. The actual need is far higher than what the numbers show.

Per the state's waiver amendment to CMS, the 120 figure is based on "prior utilization." Every year of prior utilization sits above that line.

📅 Public hearing Monday, Oct. 12, 10 AM, hybrid
⏰ Register by 5 PM Sunday, Oct. 11 to testify virtually
🔗 https://t.co/MOXV6Xffnl

If your family or someone you love has been through this, the state needs to hear from you. You don't need to explain the rule. Share your story, and tell the state what this will mean for families.

10/03/2026

Apparently we’re crying over T-shirts now. Cool. Totally normal. 😂🥹

But LOOK AT THESE.

Medical Mom Village is my baby. I started this thing in January with a big heart, a slightly unhinged amount of determination, and one simple belief: medical moms deserve a Village after they come home from NICU/PICU/CICU discharge.

And somehow… people just kept saying yes.

Yes, I’ll volunteer. Yes, I’ll donate. Yes, I’ll share. Yes, I know someone who can help. Yes, tell that mom we’ve got her.

One tiny yes after another.

Most days I’m too busy figuring out what’s next to really process what all those tiny moments have become.

Then someone puts MEDICAL MOM VILLAGE across the back of a shirt and apparently THAT is what breaks me. 😭

My friend Heather Rae Watkins Hudson connected me with Jennifer Butler, who owns Spirit 66 in Caddo Mills with her husband. If you have kids in youth sports around here, there’s a good chance you already know their work. They outfit several local leagues and make spirit gear for Caddo.

Jennifer heard about our Village and offered to make shirts for me and my volunteers completely free.

Excuse me while I stare at them and have feelings again.

Because these aren’t just shirts to me. They’re nine months of grocery cards and hospital coffees. Care packages and late-night messages. Donations from strangers. Volunteers giving their time. Moms trusting us enough to say, I need help. And people who didn’t know us deciding they wanted to help carry this Village a little farther.

This started as something that lived in my head and heart.

Now it has volunteers. Supporters. Partnerships. A reach I never could have imagined.

And apparently merch?! WHO LET US GET THIS OFFICIAL?! 😂😭

Jennifer, thank you for seeing what we’re building and loving on Medical mom Village. These shirts are PHENOMENAL, and seeing my girls wearing them is probably going to make me insufferably emotional.

Heather, thank you for making the connection. And April Mazur, thank you for helping take the vision in my head and bring this design to life. ❤️

Local friends, go support Spirit 66. Shop local. Support the small businesses that turn around and pour right back into the communities supporting them.

Because apparently a Village gets built the same way everything good does:

A whole bunch of people showing up with their little piece.

And one day you look around and realize…

Holy crap. We actually built a Village. 🥹❤️

09/30/2026

September was full of little moments that added up to a whole lot of love delivered. 💕 Take a peek at what this Village made possible this month and what we’re already working on next! 🫶

09/25/2026

Y’ALL. Our Trunk or Treat table is already 45% stocked! 🎃🖤

A HUGE thank you to everyone who has purchased something from our wishlist to help us stock the Medical Mom Village table at the Medical City Dallas Children’s Trunk or Treat!

We’ve already had 29 items purchased from our wishlist, which means we are almost HALFWAY to having everything we need for our table, candy, games, and prizes for the kiddos who stop by! 🥹

Every bag of candy, little Halloween toy, treat, sticker, and prize helps us make our little corner of the event something fun for the kids and families attending.

We still have 36 items left on our wishlist, and I would LOVE to see our Village get our table to 100% stocked! 👀

If you’ve been thinking about grabbing something, this is your sign. 😂 Even one item gets us another step closer.

And seriously, THANK YOU to everyone who has already helped. My house is slowly being taken over by Halloween candy and tiny prizes, and I’m not even mad about it. 😂🎃

Let’s finish stocking our table, Village! 🖤

Wishlist link is in the comments!

09/23/2026

Okay, there are A LOT of new faces around here lately and I’m starting to feel like I need name tags. 😂

So let’s do introductions!

Whether you’ve been here since the beginning or you just stumbled into the Village five minutes ago — tell us who you are!

Name, where you’re from, a little about your medical mom journey if you’re comfortable sharing… and then give us something fun because we are, in fact, actual humans outside of appointments and hospital walls. 😂

What are you reading? What’s your coffee order? What show are you currently bingeing? What completely unnecessary thing are you obsessed with right now?

Share as much or as little as you want. Diagnoses and medical details are NEVER required.

I created Medical Mom Village because medical motherhood can feel incredibly isolating, and sometimes the best thing in the world is finding another mom who just gets it.

So come out of hiding, Village. 😂

Who are you and what kind of chaos are you bringing to the group? 👇

I’ll go first in the comments!

09/22/2026

The Village showed up again today. 🩷

A medical mama reached out after her family hit a really hard season. Her husband’s work has slowed down, they’ve been making multiple trips to Dallas every week for medical care, and they found themselves having to choose between gas and groceries.

That’s a choice no medical family should have to make.

Today, Medical Mom Village was able to step in with grocery support and take one thing off their plate. 🩷

This is exactly why this Village exists. Sometimes showing up looks like a home-cooked meal. Sometimes it’s sitting beside another mama who needs someone who gets it. And sometimes it’s making sure there’s food in the house when medical expenses, travel, and life have stretched a family thin.

This is why every donation to Medical Mom Village matters. Every single one. It helps ensure that when a medical family hits a hard season, they don’t have to choose between gas to get to appointments, medications they need, or meals for their family.

Your support gives us the ability to step in when it matters most. 🩷

If you’re able to give, our donation link is in the comments. Help us continue showing up for medical families when they need their Village.

Love Delivered. 🩷

09/21/2026

Okay Village, it’s getting REAL. 🎃🩷

I went shopping for our Trunk or Treat table and games, and I found the CUTEST stuff. I am way too excited to put this whole thing together. 😂

Meanwhile, my house is slowly being taken over by packages from the wishlist, and I could not be happier about it. 🥹 So many of you have already purchased candy, prizes, glow sticks, and goodies for the kiddos, and I seriously cannot thank y’all enough.

We’re going to get to bring such a fun little escape to the kids at Medical City Dallas Children’s, and it’s happening because the Village keeps showing up.

We’ve got a great start — now let’s keep this momentum going! 🎃👻

If you’ve been thinking about grabbing something from the wishlist, we still have items left! Everything needs to be in by October 17th so we can get it all packed and ready.

Y’all really do show up every single time. 🩷

09/19/2026

Okayyyy Village, y’all are SHOWING UP again. 😭🎃🩷

A HUGE shoutout to Nicole Garcia, Heather Rae Watkins Hudson, Courtney Cooper, Emily Morrow, Beth Guerra, Sarah Beatty, Laura Falls & Catherine Winn for purchasing goodies from our Halloween wishlist for the kiddos at Medical City Dallas Children’s! 🥹

Candy, tattoos, fidgets, little toys — y’all are helping us make sure these kids get a Halloween that feels FUN, even if they’re spending it somewhere no kid wants to be. 🖤🎃

And seeing notes like “For all the tubies who don’t eat candy”?! 😭 THAT is the Village. Making sure every kiddo is thought of.

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for continuing to show up every single time I ask. I swear I should know by now what happens when I give this Village a wishlist. 😂🩷

We’re about to have one heck of a Halloween. 👻🎃

09/18/2026

🎃 VILLAGE, WE GET TO DO SOMETHING REALLY FUN. 🩷

This Halloween, Medical Mom Village has the honor of joining Amazing Little Hearts’ Halloween Party + Trunk or Treat at Medical City Dallas Children’s Hospital! 👻

And I need the Village to help me bring the fun. 🥹

📅 Saturday, October 24th
📍 Medical City Dallas Children’s Hospital

For a lot of kids, Halloween means costumes, buckets and running door-to-door for as much candy as they can carry.

But some kiddos will be spending Halloween in the hospital.

So we get to bring a little bit of Halloween to them. 🩷

I’m covering everything needed to set up and decorate our table and game. I’m asking the Village to help me stock the candy and prizes!

We need peanut-free candy, glow sticks, temporary tattoos, stickers and small toys/prizes. 🍬✨

I created an Amazon Wishlist with exactly what we need:

🎃 SHOP THE TRUNK OR TREAT WISHLIST⁠

https://www.amazon.com/registries/gl/guest-view/2VEUSTYVK7HLG?ref_=cm_sw_r_mwn_ggr-subnav-share_NF9R33V3J02TZBD6YSF1_1&language=en-US

Let’s fill this table. Let’s spoil some kiddos. And let’s make Halloween in the hospital feel a little more like Halloween. 🎃👻🩷

It takes a Village. Good thing we brought one. 🩷