Non-Profit Brings Hope, Ornaments To Sick Patients Hospitalized Over Holidays

GRAYSLAKE, IL — For the past 15 years, a Grayslake woman has spearheaded an effort inspired in part by a family tradition, which has brought smiles and hope to many Chicago-area residents who've had to spend Christmas in the hospital.

This past holiday season, HOPE Ornaments handed out more than 5,200 ornaments to patients in hospitals across the Chicago area. Elizabeth Elliott, 39, of Grayslake, spends most of the year collecting or distributing the donation of ornaments.

Prior to COVID-19, Elliott worked with volunteers to hand-deliver the ornaments to patients in the hospital. She misses the in-person contact with the beneficiaries of the ornaments, who would take the time to pick one that was meaningful to them.

Elliott said it seemed like the "right ornament would always find them," recalling one story of a 90-year-old woman who was on dialysis. She picked an ornament with a blue diner on it, which reminded her of a restaurant her late husband and her would go to when they were dating in their teens.

"It brought back memories, and it made her happy," Elliott said. "Every ornament finds a home."

For the past three years, Elliott and her team has not been able to go into the hospitals due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19, RSV and the flu. Nurses at the hospitals have taken to handing out the ornaments and relaying stories back to Elliott regarding the joy the gifts have brought.

Elliott started HOPE Ornament 15 years ago after she gave an ornament that had been gifted by her parents to a friends' daughter who was battling leukemia. She went to visit the girl, who was in the hospital, and the girl asked to hold a Barbie ornament that was on top of Elliott's purse.

"I let her hold it and as cliché as it sounds, it changed everything. You didn't see the tubes or the heart monitor, and she just smiled, so I let her keep it," Elliott said. "To see the joy that my Barbie ornament gave her brought me such joy."

The ornament was a gift from Elliott's parents. Throughout her life, her parents gave her and her sisters a special ornament each year. Her father collected Waterford ornaments, her mother collected Swarovski ornaments, and they gifted them ornaments that had some kind of significance to them during that particular year of their life.

Over the past year 15 years, HOPE Ornaments has since donated thousands of ornaments to patients in 39 different hospitals. This past year, ornaments were handed out at Good Shepherd Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital, Edward Hospital, Condell Medical Center, James Brown VA Hospital, Sherman Hospital, Children's Advocacy Center, Lurie Children's Hospital, Comer Children's Hospital and St. Alexius Hospital in Hoffman Estates.

Elliott has continued the effort despite her own medical woes in the past decade that have left her disabled. At age 26, Elliott developed very high blood pressure, which lead to her losing her hearing and losing feeling below her knees. She has since learned to walk again and uses hearing aids to hear.

She says despite the setbacks, she knows from her time visiting hospitals where patients must stay for long-term care, that she is lucky.

"I have my bad days, but then I think, I am home on Christmas with my family. And I have my mom and dad and sisters and great friends and family to spend it with," she said.

Prior to COVID, HOPE Ornaments was bringing in typically 8,000 ornaments per year. Since many offices have closed — a main source for ornament collections — Elliott has been working to creatively find ways to boost donations moving forward.

Anyone interested in spearheading a larger effort to collect ornaments in the next year, or would like to drop off an ornament on Elliott's porch, can learn how to do so by visiting Elliott's GoFundMe page. The GoFundMe also collects funds to support HOPE Ornament's mission.

As for Elliott, she plans to continue to distribute ornaments to hospitalized patients over the holidays for many years to come.

"There are so many stories that have changed my life and touched my heart, and I know it will be something to do for the rest of my life," Elliott said.