Transformational gift to name Children’s Village in Honor of the late Cherese Mari Laulhere at the Memorialcare Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital in Long Beach
MemorialCare Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital in Long Beach is only 5% of all hospitals that specialize in children, which makes them a necessity not only for children, but also for young adults as well as expecting mothers. This hospital is one of the only freestanding Children’s Hospital in California treating more than 14,000 children each year. It has become a regional pediatric destination for more visits by children who need special care. This specific children’s village, is proven beneficial for a variety of reasons from one time visits to follow up care for a wide range of health conditions that require specialized attention. Thousands of families each year receive support from the child life program and it is expected to nearly double in the children’s village.
Born at the Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital in 1974, Cherese Mari Laulhere spent her whole life giving back to her community while attending College at the age of 21. Tragically Laulhere’s life was cut short in a bus accident while on a trip to India for a semester at sea program. Her family started the foundation to keep Laulhere’s memory alive. The mission of the foundation is to provide funding and support to charitable organizations. Her mother said “she was always very grateful for her family and friends, had so much compassion for others and had a very loving heart.” Chris Laulhere said “ our family generously donated to the Children’s Village in memory of Cherese’s hopes and dreams of helping children.” The gift is the largest commitment the foundation has ever made with a $60million campaign launched in August 2018 and the largest gift received by the Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital in Long Beach.
When completed in 2021, the Children’s Village will be an 80,000 square-foot, four-story building on the Children’s and Women’s campus that provides a one stop place for specialty care. John Bishop, CEO, Miller Children and Women’s hospital says “The Children’s Village has been a decade long dream for Miller Children and Women, so to have the support of the Laulhere family to not only realize or dream but to sustain it for generations of children to come, is incredible.”
By Wendy Gonzalez