Dec My Room transforms hospital rooms for young patients

For one day and one day only, NorthPark Center brought the safari to Dallas.

On April 2, the seventh annual Room to Grow Luncheon and Fashion Presentation was held at the mall’s Neiman Marcus. This year’s luncheon was safari-themed in honor of Ellison Liechty, the 2025 Celebrate Flight Awardee. Each year, the nonprofit Dec My Room presents the award in honor of a patient whose experience or actions epitomize the mission of the organization, which is dedicated to transforming “dec’ing” the rooms of children and young adults in extended hospital stays into places of healing.

In September 2019, Liechty was diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia. On her 13th birthday that November, volunteers from the organization dec’d her room with a safari theme. Liechty lost her battle to cancer in 2020. Leichty died in 2020, after which her mother Julie created the jewelry line Love, Ellison, of which half of the proceeds are donated to African elephant sanctuaries and local charities. At the luncheon, Julie accepted the award on her daughter’s behalf. Proceeds from the event will go to Dec My Room.

When a young patient is admitted for a stay three weeks or longer at one of Dec My Room’s partner hospitals, the hospital’s social worker or child care specialist will approach the patient’s family with information about Dec My Room. Those who want to participate will fill out an interest form with the child’s favorite colors, themes, hobbies and interests. For each patient, a trained volunteer is given a $300 budget to purchase decorations corresponding to what is listed on the interest form. The volunteer will then coordinate with hospital staff to find a time to decorate the room.

“This is the impact we’re making throughout the entire hospital. It’s not just the child. It’s their family, it’s their nurses. From housekeeping to the doctors, it’s positively impacted and brought people to tears,” says Heather Smith, Dec My Room North Texas Director.

The organization originally began in Houston in 2007. It expanded when one of the directors moved to Dallas for work. Smith originally heard about Dec My Room from her children’s school. Once she got involved, she worked with others in the organization to spread awareness about Dec My Room through word of mouth, newsletters and advertising. According to Smith, there are now 212 volunteers registered with Dec My Room North Texas.

The organization is now officially partnered with four hospitals in the DFW area — Children’s Medical Center Dallas, Children’s Medical Center Plano, Medical City Dallas and Cook Children’s Medical Center.

This year, the event was chaired by Ashley O’Malley and Heather Winn. O’Malley says she first got involved with Dec My Room thanks to a business mentor of hers, who she had previously worked with on other charity events like the Cattle Baron’s Ball. Though this was her first year co-chairing the luncheon, O’Malley has attended the previous three.

“When [my mentor] was chairing this, I thought, ‘I want to go support her and find out what it’s about.’ And I love fashion, so that was a nice draw too. And then, you just get hooked, and it’s a lovely, sweet luncheon and an incredible cause,” she says.

In addition to the award presentation, the luncheon was followed by a fashion presentation by Neiman Marcus.

Last year, fundraising efforts were able to raise $40,000 in just four minutes.

Smith says that due to fundraising success, Dec My Room has been able to add more programs and services. This includes patients who go back and forth from the hospitals, antepartum mothers, NICU rooms and more.

Smith, who served as volunteer coordinator for almost four years before becoming director, encourages those who can to volunteer.

“It just spoke to me,” she says. “Once you go into the room one time, it’s addictive. You really want to keep going back.”