During long tenures as board members and now cheerleaders of UVA Children’s Hospital, Kelley MacDougall and Natasha Lawler saw first-hand the growing needs of out-of-town families seeking care for their children in our town. As the hospital has gotten better and better at complex cases, families are coming from further and further away for longer and longer stays. 

Unable to meet the demand of single family dwelling places made even more pronounced by Covid, Kelley and Natasha formed a very small, self-funded, non-profit called Project New Life to purchase and remodel a duplex a few blocks from the hospital for out-of-town families to stay in whole their kids are being treated at UVA Children’s. Thanks to Mike Ball and Element Construction and other generous donations of time and resources, the House on the Corner has hosted over a dozen families since January of 2022.