Childrens of my heart

Hello stepbystep family,

My name is Alexandra Hovancova and I am the director of the only non-governmental children’s home for terminally ill children and I also run an emergency housing for abused mothers. At the same time, I am proud to say that I am a mother of 16 extraordinary children. I love them just the way they are. With their fates, diagnoses and personalities. To me, they are amazing and have become a part of me.

Almost six years ago, at the age of 27, I became the youngest director of five centers. My life took a 180-degree turn at that time, but at the same time it took on a tremendous meaning.

When I took the job, I envisioned myself working from home, drinking coffee, going to meetings, and solving a problem here and there. Ha, I have to laugh at how naive those ideas were. In reality, I’m a “jack of all trades” girl. If something is missing, I go shopping, if the staff is missing, I’m with the kids, if there are problems and finances, I’m the director. I’m not complaining, the feeling I get when I go home knowing that I have made a difference in someone’s life cannot be described, replaced or paid for by anything. I don’t know if I will ever be grateful enough for what I have in my life.

At our center, we face several obstacles. The state funds sick children over healthy ones. Again, I don’t want to complain, I have come from anger and frustration to some reconciliation with the situation. I owe this mainly to the community I have around me, thanks to which we have the finances for food, salaries, even if they are only minimal… Unfortunately, we do not have the money needed for the equipment and needs of the children.

I had two options when I started, I could cry and say how unfair the state and the system is, or I could think of something. First I supplemented the missing money with my salary, my friends and family’s salary. It wasn’t enough. So I created a Children of My Heart account on the social network. An account of unique children, together with whom we live every single day as if it were our last. It may sound gloomy, to some like a cliché, but in our case it is true to the last letter

We live knowing that we can’t change our children’s diagnoses, but we can fill their days with love. The five children who have been here since I started have it on their charts that medically they cannot live and they are living. And the doctors said that five years ago. One little girl was supposed to be three weeks old and she turned three years old. Do you understand? I know that the children in our home can die any day, and that’s why we live those days to the fullest with them.

Today, on behalf of 16 children, I want to ask for your financial help so that we can afford new furnishings for our home, renovate the facility, and provide a safe, comfortable, and healthy environment for my children.

With gratitude and love

Alexandra