Santa-America: Beginnings and Who We Are

Every organization has a beginning. I know now that Santa-America actually began in 1999 when my wife, Darcy, lay dying of pancreatic cancer in an Atlanta hospice. The hospice has a special 6 room children's section. I spent the last days of Darcy's life sleeping next to her bed, and when I left the room to meet with the doctor and nurses, I met another patient; little baby girl. She was just a few months old and dying from a brain tumor. We all adopted her and along with the nurses, I held her in my arms and rocked her to sleep. She died two days before my wife.

Hospice tenderly supported our families as we grieved. Two families in very different stages of life: a young mother and father lost their only child, and my family lost a daughter, sister, wife, mother and grandmother. Both families faced the same gut wrenching agony of grief and bereavement.

Hospice staff loved and supported my family after Darcy's death, visiting and checking in as we all slowly began to move on. Grief and bereavement are deeply personal and do not move to a time schedule. For many, healing takes longer... much longer.

I wanted to do something to recognize hospice for the love, hope and joy they poured into me and my family. Some families donate equipment, furnishings, books & magazines after losing their loved one. What could I donate?

The answer came at dawn one morning in the summer of 2003. My wife and the little infant girl had been on my mind. I awoke, put my feet on the floor, and declared to no one in particular, that I was going to grow my beard, don my trusty Santa suit and become a hospice volunteer for Southwest Alabama hospices near Mobile... that is, if there was such a thing as a Santa hospice volunteer!

So Santa Ernest set out to visit hospice patients in hospitals, hospice and at home. There were no rules and few procedures. The typical Santa visit had always been a quick walk through the facility during the holidays, simple gifts like a candy cane and a jolly Ho! Ho! Ho! A minute or two was normally spent with each patient. A busy Santa was then off to visit all the other children in the world! Our special hospice families deserved so much more.

We quickly found that a meaningful loving and supportive visit depends upon having detailed pre-visit information and enough time with the child and their family; particularly young sisters and brothers. A Santa-America visit with a family can last an hour or longer.

The impact of a Santa-America visit is absolutely off the charts! It is OK to feel love, hope and joy... OK to laugh... to remember old family memories & traditions, and to build some new ones. Santa IS unconditional love and happiness... even in July in Southwest Alabama!

Santa is love, hope and joy bringing together 3 or even 4 generations! Santa-America is a grandparents' generation tenderly loving and supporting young families in crisis during the heightened emotions of the holiday season and 365 days of the year. A mother or grandmother can bring Santa to their dying child, knowing there so few special things they can do as end-of-life approaches. For a child, Santa's visit IS a very special event.

We found that individual Santas all over America were making similar local volunteer visits to sick and sometimes dying children. Some were professional Santas making special volunteer visits, other Santas were strictly volunteers Along with Mrs. Claus and Elf Assistants. ALL have huge hearts and were doing good work! Most were making visits around the holiday season. A few visits took place at other times during the year. Even fewer were referred by healthcare and hospice staff. Almost no Santas had special training or the level of background investigation necessary to visit special needs children and families.

Santa-America was formed as a donor supported non-profit charitable service organization to identify, recruit, background (the same background investigation as a doctor or nurse), and to train our very special Santas, Mrs. Claus and Elves to visit children and families in crisis, grief or extended bereavement.

Santa-America is a member of the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) and Children's Hospice International (CHI). Members of these organizations serve over 96% of all hospice patients in America. Our special pediatric training is based on their continuing education programs.

In 2004 Santa began visits to children suffering from chronic pediatric illness, and children whose parent had been wounded or killed on active duty with our armed forces. These children and families faced long term stress and pressure to provide 24/7 care for their child for months and years. Siblings were often left to themselves under the relentless pressure of caring for the child in need. Santa learned to focus on brothers and sisters as well as the special needs child. He brings gifts and love, hope and joy to every child. An "only child" can invite their very best friends when Santa visits.

In 2005, our mission was again expanded to include children suffering from post traumatic stress. Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma ravaged the Gulf Coast leaving thousands of children without homes, schools, communities. We focused on post traumatic stress and learned at our 2006 national training conference that the #1 cause of pediatric PTSD is sexual abuse! Santa's PSTD visits are hardly seasonal or entirely weather related. Santa visits his special children and families 365 days a year.

Santa-America is always referred by hospital and hospice staff, social workers and special needs educators. Santa becomes a part of their support team. Our Santas also volunteer with hospices in their home towns and are backgrounded, TB tested and receive continuous local training. Santa-America builds on this local relationship by uniting its volunteers in a national mission.

Following the death of a child or loved one, the same Santa visits a family during their grief and bereavement... no matter of how long it takes. Every year there is the joy and anticipation of Santa's visit... the very same Santa... our family's Santa!

Santa-America's visits are free. There is never a "needs test" or a charge for his visit or the gifts he brings. Santa is supported entirely by donations. One Santa is making his 5th annual visit to a family who lost their young daughter. The surviving brother may soon become one of Santa's "special elves," and accompany Santa as he visits other families in crisis.

Santa respects a family's privacy and spirituality and can be as spiritual or secular as the family wishes. Over the centuries Santa has become a tender symbol of unconditional Love, Hope and Joy. Of course, Santa brings presents for all the children, AND he always brings these universal values that are shared by all faiths, races, gender, and cultures. All information on a child and family is treated as strictly confidential. Our Santas receive special training in compliance with HPPA patient privacy regulations.

Our mission is about our children. Santa focuses on each visit as if it were his ONLY visit. Please use our interactive "Map of America" to locate a Santa near you, and remember, we are adding new volunteers every day!

Many Santas have listed their own website and can also be scheduled for private or corporate holiday visits. Believe me; they are among the finest backgrounded and trained Santas in America!

From our beginnings in Southwest Alabama, Santa-America has grown to almost 200 dedicated Santas, Mrs. Claus and Elves in 44 states and 4 foreign countries. With your support, Santa-America will continue to grow bringing Love, Hope and Joy to our special children all across America... all year long!

Over the last 7+ years, I've often thought about that little infant girl who died a few days before my wife in that Atlanta hospice. Why was she placed in our lives? What possible impact could she have had on our world during such a brief little lifetime?

I know the answer now... and so do you.

Thank you for visiting the Santa-America website. Please sign Santa's Guest Book so we can keep you informed about Santa's visits to our special children. Keep us in your hearts and please support our team of volunteers. Your support will keep Santa, Mrs. Claus and the Elves in Santa's sleigh 365 days a year!

With Love, Hope and Joy wrapped in a warm Santa hug!

Santa Ernest
President of Santa-America