Loretta's Little Miracles needs more nurses, funding

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A northeast Fresno care facility is taking action to help families with medically fragile children or children with disabilities.

Loretta's Little Miracles is one of 17 nursing home facilities for children in California, and the only one serving Valley families.

Erin Alfred spends most of her school days at LLM.

You can't miss the 13-year-old girl, because she's always busting out her dance moves.

What you aren't able to see is the chronic condition Erin is living with.

Erin is in stage 4 kidney failure. She needs extra love, care and attention before school and after.

"I have provided that," said founder Loretta Hicks. "The before school and the after school care so that families can actually work."

Loretta's Little Miracles has a caregiving staff to provide medical treatments and lead kids through therapeutic activities.

The facility expanded so it could serve as many children as possible. Currently, around 50 kids come to Loretta's.

However, 50 more are still on a waitlist.

According to the director, without enough staff, that waitlist won't shrink.

"We need assistance in going to legislators and getting additional funding so we can hire more staff to serve more kids," Katelyn Ashton said.

"The hospitals keep raising the salaries of the nurses," explained Hicks. "I can't compete with the hospital."

The care facility currently works with Fresno and Central Unified school districts to bus the kids to and from Loretta's. They're hoping to expand their reach to other districts.

"We need policy change," Hicks said.

The staff is committed to the children and families they serve.

However, they're also staying committed to raising awareness about the Central Valley's need for the facility's services -- in hopes of making a difference in other lives.

Job openings for LLM can be found online.