Our Mission

Care does not stop
at the hospital door.

For the families who travel hundreds of kilometres for the only treatment that can save them, the question is rarely where will I be treated. It is where will we sleep.

Origin

It began with one room
above a pharmacy in Lyon.

In 2014, our founder Dr. Hélène Marquand — a pediatric oncologist — gave the keys to a small flat above a Lyon pharmacy to the parents of one of her patients. They had been sleeping in the hospital waiting room for nine nights.

Within a year, eleven families had stayed there. Within three, the foundation had raised enough to buy and renovate a 22-room hospitality house at the gates of the Hôpital Femme-Mère-Enfant. By 2020, the model had crossed borders.

Today, eight houses operate across Europe — and we have built a method, a standard of hospitality, and a movement that places dignity at the centre of catastrophic illness.

The first Shelter for Health house in Lyon, France
Our Principles

Six commitments
we will not compromise.

1. Always free.

No fees. No deposits. No income tests at the door. A family in crisis should never produce a tax return to receive a bed. Verification of medical referral is the only criterion.

2. Within walking distance.

Every house is sited within a five-minute walk of its partner hospital. Proximity is not a convenience — it is the medical and emotional infrastructure that keeps families intact.

3. Hospitality, not charity.

Linen-pressed sheets. A real kitchen. Children's books in five languages. A door that locks. Designed by hospitality architects so a guest never feels they are being given less.

4. Run by people who understand.

Every house manager is a former nurse, social worker, or family alumnus. They know what 3 a.m. looks like in pediatric ICU. They know what to say — and when not to speak at all.

5. Radical financial transparency.

89 cents of every euro reaches programs. Audited annual reports. Every Gala lot, every donor tier, every operational cost — published. Trust earned, not claimed.

6. Never a poster, never a face.

We will not photograph a child to raise a euro. The dignity of the families who pass through our doors is not a fundraising asset. Our case is made by their privacy, not by their pain.

Our Method

How a Shelter house comes to life.

Step One · 6–9 months

A hospital invites us.

We do not arrive uninvited. Each house begins with a hospital director who has watched too many families sleep on plastic chairs. We listen, we map the medical catchment area, and we ask whether the need is enduring.

Step Two · 12–18 months

We acquire and design.

An adjacent property is purchased — never rented. Our in-house architects and a hospitality firm partner re-design every interior: warm light, soft acoustics, no clinical surfaces, kitchens designed for shared cooking.

Step Three · 3 months

We staff with care.

House managers are recruited from nursing, social work, and the foundation's own alumni network. They train at our flagship in Lyon for twelve weeks before opening their own house.

Step Four · Forever

We hold open the door.

Each house operates on a permanent endowment funded by donors, sustaining members, and the annual Lumina Gala. We commit to a hospital partner for fifty years — not a project cycle.

Governance & Trust

Built to outlast its founders.

An independent board.

Twelve trustees from medicine, finance, hospitality, and civil society. Three-year rotating terms. No trustee may approve their own remuneration. No related-party contracts above €25,000 without an external review.

Audited every year.

Our financial statements are audited by KPMG (Paris) and published in full each April. Country-level reports are filed with each national charity regulator.

Where every euro goes.

From €1.00 entrusted to the foundation:

  • House operations & staff€0.62
  • New house construction€0.27
  • Fundraising & events€0.07
  • Administration€0.04

View our annual reports

Annual Reports

A decade of transparency.

2024 · Annual Report

The Year We Crossed the Alps

Opening of Milan and the consolidation of European operations.

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2023 · Annual Report

Ten Years, Ten Thousand Beds

A decade of operations in numbers — and in the families who stayed.

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2022 · Annual Report

The Lumina Gala Endows the Foundation

Our auction's record year and the launch of the perpetual house fund.

Download PDF
Archive · 2014 – 2021

The First Seven Years

From a single Lyon flat to five operating houses across Europe.

Browse archive

Stand with the families who travel for care.

Your support keeps every door open and every bed free.

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