Yumi C.A.R.E.S. Foundation

Provides critical emotional support to young patients

In another first for the University of Maryland Children’s Hospital, Maryland First Lady Yumi Hogan has launched a full-spectrum Art Therapy Program for Children’s Hospital patients through her foundation, Yumi C.A.R.E.S.: Children’s Art for Recovery, Empowerment, and Strength.

Pictured from left to right at the launch event for Yumi C.A.R.E.S.: Gov. Larry Hogan, Josh Birch, Marty Weishaar, First Lady Yumi Hogan, Stephen J. Czinn, MD, Sarah Birch and Greg Birch.

The vision for this pioneering program — the first of its kind in the state of Maryland — was initially conceived by First Lady Hogan during the time she spent with her family at the University of Maryland Medical Center. After witnessing the excellence and compassion of the UMMC team, the First Lady proposed a unique new partnership with her foundation.

“During my husband’s battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, we had the opportunity to meet so many courageous pediatric patients and their families,” explains First Lady Hogan. “Partnering with the University of Maryland Medical Center — where my husband received treatment and where my grandson received excellent care in their NICU — made perfect sense.”

Led by a trained art therapist, the Art Therapy Program fosters a sense of empowerment and strength in children facing health challenges, helping them heal both emotionally and physically. Through their experience in the program, the children build resiliency and coping skills, work through depression, and manage pain and anxiety. When given a chance to express themselves in this way, pediatric patients gain a sense of control at a time when they feel they have none.

“We constantly seek comprehensive approaches to healing both the body and the mind — and art can help heal the emotional side of illness in a unique way,” says UMCH Director Steven J. Czinn, MD, the Drs. Rouben and Violet Jiji Endowed Professor of Pediatrics and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “Yumi C.A.R.E.S. is bringing a much-needed service to help our young patients and their families cope. We are honored to have First Lady Hogan and her foundation as part of our team.”