Wonder Walls began in a hospital room.

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When their daughter was critically ill and needed intensive care, Olivia and Eric Schweppe learned what so many families learn the hard way. A long hospital stay doesn't just wear on a child's body. It wears on everything — their spirit, their sense of self, their ability to just feel like a kid. The walls are bare. The routine is gone. The little things that make home feel like home are suddenly very far away.

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They also learned what it feels like to come out the other side. When their daughter's health stabilized and their family was able to go home, Olivia and Eric felt something they hadn't expected alongside the relief — a deep sense of responsibility. They had been given something not every family in those hallways would get. And that felt like a gift that came with a purpose — if they were lucky enough to walk out, they were going to make sure they didn't walk away. 

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So Olivia went back. She volunteered as a Bedside Buddy at CHOP, spending time with kids who had been inpatients for weeks, months, sometimes longer. She noticed something in those hours — that a small act of personalization could do something medicine couldn't quite reach. A favorite character on the wall. A themed bedset. A space that finally felt like theirs. Kids visibly shifted. Parents took a breath they'd been holding for days.

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That was the beginning. What started as room transformations has grown into something wider — gift boxes shipped to families anywhere in the country, parties thrown inside hospital wards, seasonal partnerships with Ronald McDonald House, holiday baskets for kids spending birthdays and holidays under fluorescent lights.

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The need is everywhere. And Wonder Walls is just getting started.