Bringing Comfort to Children in Crisis — OHAAT's Partnership with CHOP's Homeless Health Initiative

Hear directly from CHOP's Homeless Health Initiative team on what this partnership means for the families they serve.

There are places in our city where children are sleeping tonight that most of us will never see. Emergency shelters. Transitional housing. Crisis rooms. Places where families have landed after losing everything — and where, despite the heroic efforts of the organizations serving them, some essentials are still out of reach.

Items included in OHAAT’s bedtime bags are some of those basics.

Since late November 2025, One House at a Time has been delivering bedtime bags directly to children referred through the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Homeless Health Initiative (CHOP HHI) — a program that provides free health services to children and families living in local emergency housing shelters. In just a few months, we have delivered 174 bedtime bags to children whose families are navigating some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable.

Who CHOP's Homeless Health Initiative Serves

CHOP's Homeless Health Initiative (HHI) is an Office of Community Impact program that mobilizes hundreds of dedicated volunteers to deliver free health services and customized programming to families experiencing homelessness. From educational workshops to onsite clinical care, the HHI meets families where they are — inside the shelters themselves — providing the kind of comprehensive, compassionate care that transforms a crisis situation into a moment of genuine support.

One of the shelters CHOP’s HHI serves is the Woodstock Family Center, which provides emergency housing for single parents with children and intact families. Woodstock offers a range of supportive services including case management, a Bright Spaces childcare program, and counseling. It is within this space, already rich with care, that our bedtime bags are delivered.

What a Bedtime Bag Means in a Shelter

When a family enters emergency housing, they bring almost nothing. The focus, understandably, is on immediate safety: a roof, a meal, a place to rest. But for a child, the absence of comfort items compounds an already traumatic experience. No stuffed animal. No book at bedtime. No familiar routine.

Each Beds for Kids bedtime bag is packed by hand by our volunteers and includes warm blankets, soft sheets, pillow, age-appropriate books, a cuddly stuffed animal, a toothbrush, period products (when needed), and sleep-health education materials. For a child in a shelter, these items are not small things. They are the building blocks of a bedtime routine, and a moment of normalcy and warmth in the middle of a very difficult night.

From CHOP Night to a child's bedside — see how a bedtime bag makes its way to a family in need.

“This partnership reflects what’s possible when compassion meets action. These essential sleep resources, assembled with intention, help children feel safe and valued – reminding them they are cared about, and cared for,” says Melissa Berrios Johnson, HHI Program Manager.

Why This Partnership Matters

HHI already does extraordinary work addressing the health needs of children experiencing homelessness. What this partnership adds is a layer of comfort and consistency at bedtime, when children most need to feel safe and settled.

Research consistently shows that children experiencing homelessness face significant sleep disruption, which compounds the physical and emotional toll of housing instability. A familiar bedtime routine, anchored by a book, stuffed animal, and a warm blanket, can help a child's body and mind transition into the rest they so desperately need.

Since late November 2025, 174 children connected to CHOP's shelter network have received a Beds for Kids bedtime bag. Each one was packed with intention, delivered with care, and received by a child in need.

Looking Ahead

As OHAAT continues to work alongside CHOP's Homeless Health Initiative, we hope to expand our reach to more children in CHOP’s network, ensuring that every family they serve has access to the sleep resources that support children's health, development, and sense of dignity.

If your organization works with children experiencing homelessness and would like to explore a referral partnership with the Beds for Kids program, we would love to hear from you.