With the help of our generous supporters, myFace assures the Craniofacial community access to the comprehensive and highly personalized team care at The myFace Center at the Hansjörg Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery, NYU Langone Medical Center (formerly the IRPS). The Center provides integrative, highly specialized and personalized team care to all those who request treatment, regardless of the type or severity of the anomaly, the length of treatment, or the family’s ability to afford care.

Care

Each year, approximately 250,000 children with craniofacial conditions are born in the United States. The faces of another 100,000 individuals are disfigured through accident or disease. Facial differences can range from a cleft lip & palate, misshapen skull, missing ear, tiny recessed jaw, or bulging eyes to a large vascular growth obscuring the eye or throat. We’re not only concerned with the physical effects but also the emotional distress caused by facial difference.

The Newman Family Support Center was established for the psychosocial needs of our patients and their families under the same roof as their medical and dental care. Our program includes:

• Speech evaluation and therapy
• Psychological and therapeutic support
• Nutrition counseling
• Genetic counseling
• Pre and post-natal counseling, home care instruction
• Support groups for patients, siblings, and parents
• Southwest Airlines Medical Transportation Grant Program
• The myFace Family Apartments for out-of-town families

 

Compassion

It is a part of our mission to serve the craniofacial community, and we’re honored to have partnered with Sprigeo and Facing History and Ourselves to develop “The myFace Wonder Project”, a pro-compassion curriculum based on the New York Times Best Seller, Wonder by R.J. Palacio.

Our unique approach to teaching about facial difference enables children to understand the importance of having compassion. The overarching goal of this project is to strengthen civil society by promoting acceptance, kindness and civic engagement among adolescents. By exploring examples of courage and compassion in the face of prejudice and discrimination, students become aware of their choices and their capacity to work for positive change. Year to date, we have accessed over 90,000 educators and 3,000,000 students.

Community

With a mission to help myFace patients achieve a better quality of life and strengthen the craniofacial community, we have created an environment bringing our patients and their families together where they can network and share some aspect of their stories of having facial differences. Aside from our support groups, and annual fundraising events, these networking events include: quarterly bowling parties, The Mary Ross Holiday Party and theatre workshops in partnership with the Turtle Bay Music School.