Sunshine on a Ranney Day

Sunshine on a Ranney Day has been providing handicap-accessible home modifications for children with special-needs and long-term illnesses in the metropolitan Atlanta area since 2012. While we will continue serving children in our community, we also know that there are children all over who need this assistance. We would like to begin taking Sunshine on a Ranney Day to other cities to help children there, too! 

Sunshine on a Ranney Day (SOARD) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Atlanta, founded in 2012 by Peter and Holly Ranney.  What started as a family volunteer initiative quickly grew into an organized community program after the couple saw the tremendous need among the hundreds of families with inadequate abilities to care for their sick or wheelchair bound children in their home.  The vision of SOARD is to renovate homes for children with long-term illnesses and special-needs. We are a licensed ADA general contractor, assuring that the highest standards are met in mobility for the disabled.  SOARD aids families with a critical need for handicapped accessibility in their homes, such as wheelchair accessible bathrooms, bedrooms and therapy rooms; ramps and ceiling lifts, etc.  We are the beneficiary of significant in-kind supplies and labor, resulting in a low financial need proportional to each project and empowering SOARD to provide these renovations at no cost to the families. We take great pride in the quality of our work, professionalism and passion that is put into each makeover. Our goal is the same each year: serve as many children as possible!

Over the last 25 years, medical and technological advances have significantly increased life expectancies of medically fragile children/those with chronic illnesses. The needs of children discharged from hospitals and treatments have outpaced our community’s ability to provide safe, therapeutic homes for those with the greatest needs.  The result is an ever-widening “gap” between what a family needs to care for their medically fragile child at home and the costs they cannot afford by their own means.

Families of children with special needs are overwhelmed with medical costs and care in a house not suitable for the child. Families are unsure how to begin an ADA home modification and costs are beyond these families’ means to provide their children with a safe living environment. There are an estimated 12,000 medically fragile children in Georgia; more than half are raised by single mothers or grandmothers. The stresses of caring for a seriously ill or disabled child takes an intense toll on marriages.  Without support to make daily living feasible, families fall apart.  Most of these families are extremely low income, particularly in rural communities. We offer the expertise, supplies, labor and TRUST to provide home modifications at no cost to the family. 

The founders of Sunshine on a Ranney Day, Peter and Holly Ranney, have developed quite a unique model for their organization and what it provides the community. Pete has an extensive construction background, and is therefore able to supervise and guide the children's modifications. Holly's background is in furniture, so she is able to utilize her skills and contacts to get special medical furniture needed for the children, as well as leverage her relationships in the furniture industry to help the Sunny and Ranney store running at its best and providing income for the modifications. 

Peter and Holly have fostered relationships in their industries that provide the amazing benefit of in-kind supplies and labor, which engages companies to give back to the community while also keeping costs low to be able to help more children. 

The dedicated Board of Directors is involved with all aspects of Sunshine on Ranney Day, which helps keep it running smoothly. The Board is tasked twice annually with reviewing all the applications Sunshine on a Ranney Day receives and selecting the children for the year who will be the recipients of custom ADA renovations by SOARD. 

Since 2012, SOARD has provided handicap-accessible home modifications to children all over the metro Atlanta area so that children can live at home with their families in spaces that are equipped (even specially-designed) for their unique challenges. But not only does SOARD provide individual children with these life-changing modifications; each year SOARD goes into the community to see who we can partner with to provide large-scale renovations that benefit thousands of children each year. In 2016, SOARD renovated the parent sleep rooms wing at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston.  This included nine sleep rooms, three bathrooms, a laundry room and a seating area. Over 2,500 people sleep in these rooms each year.  In 2017, SOARD renovated the Summit Counseling center, giving them two child therapy rooms.  Over 4,800 children use these rooms a year for emotional and mental health issues.  In 2018, SOARD completed the “Zen Den” at Camp Twin Lakes, where more than 10,000 children with special-needs each year go to take a break. In 2109, we collaborated with Murphy-Harpst, a nonprofit committed to meeting the needs of abused and neglected young people through residential treatment, foster care, and community programs that serve at-risk youth and their families.