Buddy Programs
Buddy Programs
We recognize that often times the families of the patients we care for at Golisano Children’s Hospital are positioned to provide support to other family caregivers in a way that hospital staff cannot. Through their lived experience, these family caregivers have developed skills and knowledge allowing them to cope and adapt. We appreciate this expertise and recognize how helpful these insights could be to another family just beginning a similar journey.
Our Buddy Programs match up an experienced family caregiver (a Buddy Mentor) with a family caregiver who is just beginning the journey (a Buddy Mentee). The program is all virtual, meaning the connections are made over texts and phone calls. The result is that whether a Mentee is inpatient with their child, at home, close to the hospital or far away, they have someone they can turn to who understands the challenges and successes of what these families are facing, offering encouragement, guidance, and community. Our Buddy Mentors are the heart of our program and this support resource would not exist without their kindness and dedication.
We have the following Buddy Programs:
- NICU Buddy Program
- Trach Buddy Program
- Feeding Tube Buddy Program
- Bereavement Buddy Program
- Caregivers of Transgender and Gender Diverse Youth
Feeding Tube Buddy Program: Kelly and Shelby
Kelly and Shelby, two moms with children who have g-tubes, share how the Feeding Tube Buddy Program has supported and connected them.
* NICU families must be 2 years out from their time in the NICU to serve as a NICU Buddy Mentor.
* Other Buddy Programs also have participating timeline suggestions for Buddy Mentors.
How to Participate in the Buddy Program
NICU Tube Buddy Program - December 2024 dinner
If you are a caregiver and would like a Buddy Mentor, please ask your provider.
If you are interested in becoming a Buddy Mentor, please first fill out the Family Connection Program Intake Questionnaire.
Additional Contacts
- Tricia White – NICU: Tricia_White@urmc.rochester.edu
- Laine DiNoto – Trach: Laine_DiNoto@urmc.rochester.edu
- Jennifer Aquilina – Feeding Tube: Jennifer_Aquilina@urmc.rochester.edu
- Heather Wensley – TGDY: Heather_Wensley@urmc.rochester.edu
- Melissa Gaspard – Bereavement: Melissa_Gaspard@urmc.rochester.edu
Feeding Tube Buddy Program - September 2025 gathering