Pope’s Place supports the medically fragile in Lewis County

By Emily Fitzgerald

Pope’s Place is continuing to grow and continue its mission of supporting medically fragile children, young adults and their families in Chehalis and the surrounding community.

Pope’s Place opened in 1995 as a vision of Dr. Isaac Pope, who “really saw the drain on families that took care of medically-fragile kids, and his passion was really to serve those kids and those families in the community,” said Pope’s Place Executive Director Angela Dickinson.

The nonprofit started out as a volunteer-based respite program that took care of kids so families could have a break, according to Dickinson. “Most families are exhausted, so they can just get some rest knowing their medically-fragile kids are safe and cared for,” she said.

Pope’s Place’s services have since expanded beyond the respite program, with the nonprofit now offering three different programs: a residential program, the respite program and physical therapy program.

The residential program is divided into two group homes, one for young adults for whom Pope’s Place is their “forever home” and one for kids “who are considered transitional so their goals are to go home to be with their families,” Dickinson said.

The pediatric group home is licensed for 17 kids and currently houses 14, with a 15th on the way, according to Dickinson. The young adult home had six residents as of late August.

Pope’s Place’s respite program was largely inoperable during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Dickinson said one of her main goals when she started at Pope’s Place in January of 2022 was to restart and grow that program.

One of the six beds in the young adult home has been used for respite patients for the last month, Dickinson said, and plans are in the works to add an eight-bed pediatric respite home.

Pope’s Place also runs a physical therapy program, with an aquatic therapy program starting within the next few weeks.

For more information on Pope’s Place, visit https:// popesplace.org/.