DHS Grad Founds Charity for Children with Birth Defects

Andrea Sterenstein has spent the past three years volunteering at a children’s
hospital in Cleveland while she studies at Case Western Reserve University.

“While I enjoy my time volunteering, I have always felt like I’m not making any large impact on these children’s lives,” the 2009 DHS grad said about playing games and making crafts with the admitted kids. After conducting research in the
neonatal intensive care unit at another hospital, Sterenstein realized she could be doing more.

While working in the NICU, Sterenstein saw numerous babies born with physical
disfigurements whose parents couldn’t afford corrective treatment because it
was deemed cosmetic and not covered by insurance. “Noticeable disfigurements
are often not life threatening although they are life altering, leading to ridicule and bullying throughout childhood, causing isolation, loneliness and depression,“ she explained.

“I realized I could help them get the necessary treatment so they wouldn’t have to go through life feeling they didn’t belong because they look ‘different.’” 

Last June, Sterenstein founded U.S. Children’s Medical Assistance Fund, a nonprofit charity based in Deerfield.  

“So much work is done in the not for profit universe with disfigured children in other countries,” Sterenstein stated. “We have children in America who are suffering also and while I advocate for children world-wide, I wanted to focus my work and attention on the needs of what I believe to be an underserved population in U.S. children.”

U.S. CMAF’s goal is to provide medical services to kids in the U.S. who have physical disfigurements as a result of birth defects, injuries or illnesses. She plans
to focus her efforts on children from low to moderate income families.  

“Children who have scars or large birthmarks on their faces, are missing limbs or have cross eyes or other physical disfigurements are often made fun of, withdrawing from school and the socialization learned by interacting with peers,” she said. “It would be a shame and a tremendous loss to society if the next potential Albert Einstein is a disfigured child who feels too ashamed to reach for the stars, to shine academically, to live to his or her full potential because he or she doesn’t look like other kids and is laughed at and made to feel inferior.”

To raise money, the organization has created an online store; 100 percent of the shop’s proceeds go to the foundation. There are items like single strand pearl
necklaces and decorative picture frames for sale. U.S. CMAF is also planning charity events, including one to be held in Deerfield in March.

“This has been an amazing learning experience for me,” Sterenstein said, who is currently majoring in Biology with minors in Spanish and Chemistry. After Case Western, she plans on attending medical school and will ultimately become a physician. “I have met people from the medical profession who have given me valuable input; I have had the opportunity to work with gifted volunteers who have helped design our logo and launch our social media forums and I am constantly amazed at the generosity of our donors.”

Most importantly, Sterenstein is looking for children in need. Due to HIPAA and
other privacy rules, it has been difficult to obtain names of potential beneficiaries from other agencies, doctors and schools. Sterenstein is constantly encouraging everyone with information on possible recipients to contact U.S. CMAF.

“We hold all information we receive in the strictest confidence,” Sterenstein said. 

“We have adopted Helen Keller’s quote, ‘although the world is full of suffering, it is
full also of the overcoming of it,’ and an old African tribal saying, ‘it takes a village to raise a child.’  We invite everyone to become part of the solution in the village of U.S. Children’s Medical Assistance Fund, Inc.”