435 HOURS AND COUNTING
Children’s Hospital volunteer knows how to reach kids
With her apricot orange crayon, Messiah “Siah” Holland-Stewart, 12, of Greensburg, colors inside the lines of a floral arrangement on the page of a coloring book.
Sitting at a table near a wall of toys and electronic games, Siah talks about her two dogs, Darth Vader and Princess Leia, and trips to Disney with Isabella Valentino, a University of Pittsburgh senior.
Valentino, 21, of Chicora, brings up crocheting.
“I just learned yesterday and I’m not good at it at all,” she said.
“That’s OK,” Siah reassured her. “You just keep trying.
“At home, at the mall, there’s a place called Barbara Ann’s and I sell some of my stuff there.”
“You sell your crochet stuff? No way!” Valentino said.
“I sold some teddy bears with cardigans,” Siah said.
The banter was effortless between the two even though they just met 15 minutes prior.
They would have started to color together sooner but a nurse needed a blood draw from Siah.
The 12 year old is a patient at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, recovering from complications from an autoimmune disorder that can cause extreme fatigue, according to her grandmother, Regina Balanti, 64, of Greensburg.
Typically, Siah sleeps a lot when she is having issues and goes to Children’s about once a year to bring her back to good health.
“Did you have to travel far to get to the hospital?” Valentino asked the child.
“It takes about an hour. We get to see all the lights when we come at night,” she said.
With their heads down, the two continued to color, swapping crayon colors out of the Crayola box.
Siah brought her baby doll, a gray
mouse she crocheted, and other items to Children’s to tide her over for her approximate week-long stay.
Valentino saw the crocheted mouse in her room and asked Siah about it.
“I’ve made some giraffes, hippos, a donkey and other things too,” Siah said.
Valentino cooed, “That is so cute. How did you learn?” “I’m self-taught.”
“Did you watch videos?” Valentino asked. “Yes.” Valentino lamented, “I spentan hour yesterday doing onelittle line of crocheting.” Both laughed.
This was no chance meeting.
Valentino is a Pitt senior who is an inpatient unit support volunteer. She spends time playing games and working on arts and crafts with select young patients.
She is among a cadre of volunteers that includes teen volunteers, a pet friends program and others.
“It’s a rare college volunteer who has exceeded more than 435 hours of service,” said Angela Gordon, lead volunteer coordinator at Children’s Hospital.
“It’s been amazing to have her that long and that consistently,” she said. “Her supervisors request her.”
Children’s looks for a special kind of volunteer because it is challenging navigating the comfort and play time for long-term kiddos, Gordon said. “Some of them are very sick as they are in other units as well.
“When I placed Isabella, I did so because she understood developmentally appropriate practices. She could play with a 5-year-old andcreate a warm space with ateenager,” Gordon said.
Isabella covers two units on the ninth floor that treat young patients dealing with diabetes, sickle cell anemia, food stabilization for eating disorders, oncology, bone marrow transplants and other issues.
Child life specialists visit patients daily to determine “who needs that extra boost and who will benefit from a volunteer visiting,” Gordon said.
“They also figure out if a patient is going to be alone. We want to make sure they will have support if their family can’t be here.”
Playtime is a wonderful diversion.
“Isabella is a distraction for kids waiting for a procedure,” Gordon said.
Siah’s grandmother agreed.
“They’re bored,” Balanti said.“Plus, Siah is a gabber.”
Siah was all about leaving her room to go to a playroom when Valentino first visited them, Balanti said.
The patients Valentino sees are energetic and each is unique with what they want to do.
“The best method is to get them up and moving,” Valentino said. “There are sunrooms and playrooms. They can see a new space. I will start to color and they will start coloring.”
Valentino likes to spend an hour or longer with each patient.
She’s coordinated games of cornhole for small groups of kids.
“It’s so good for socialemotional support,” Gordon said. “If they weren’t in a hospital, they would be interacting with kids.”
Valentino said although older kids can use their phones or watch television, they like to take a break from that.
Board games, staples such as “Sorry,” the card game UNO and variations are popular, she said.
“The younger kids get into things and I meet them where they are at.”
Slime play-goop is a favorite among the younger patients.
“I’ve made so much slime,” Valentino said. “It’s a gooey craft that we can add sparkles to make it fancy.”
A senior studying molecular biology, Valentino will graduate this spring and take a gap year before graduate studies.
She is not sure how much volunteer work will be possible.
She will miss showing up at Children’s, which she has been doing for four years.
“It’s the best part of my week.”