The Stella Bella Foundation is a registered Australian charity dedicated to brightening the lives of children in the ACT region and beyond, who are living with serious and long-term illnesses. The foundation offers support and aid to these children and their families, regardless of their diagnosis.   

The foundation runs four main programs. The Stella Bella Children’s Centre is an innovative respite and care centre for seriously ill babies and children, and the only one of its kind in Australia. The centre provides parents with desperately needed respite and offers their children the opportunity to play and learn in a safe and beautiful environment with specialised staff.  

Financial Assistance: The Stella Bella Foundation aids families that are struggling financially while caring for a seriously ill child. The foundation provides food and petrol vouchers, pays for chemist accounts, offers emergency accommodation and other more as needed.  

Bereavement Support: Financial grants and memorial jewelry are provided for families on the sad occasion of the loss of a child.  

Family support: Stella Bella offers a range of support for families to help them in their journey caring for their seriously ill child. They provide hundreds of meals each year to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Canberra Hospital for parents who are far from home and struggling to care for themselves whilst caring for their sick baby.  

The $10,000 donation from the Lyone Foundation will help Stella Bella with a new project in 2024. The Stella Bella Cottage is a short stay facility where seriously ill children can be treated, while their families receive the much-needed nurturing and care without the burden of extra costs. There are no facilities in Canberra that currently provide this service. The donation will help the project by transforming the yard into a private sanctuary, providing fun, peace, privacy and memories for families that stay at the cottage.  

Caring for a child with a life-limiting condition can alter a family’s life. It can be exhausting, rewarding, incredibly emotional, stressful, painful and for many families the burden of added financial hardship can be crippling. The Stella Bella Cottage will offer families access to planned and emergency respite with 24-hour specialist nursing care in a warm and welcoming environment. Each child and family will be supported in unique and varying ways according to their personal needs.