Our Stories

the history of Reviv & the stories of our families

Reviv began out of love, but more importantly out of necessity.

The founder of Reviv, Maria Dunlap, and her husband welcomed their daughter, Vivian, into the world on July 24, 2012. A short 59 days later they held Vivian for the last time.

Throughout Vivian’s diagnosis and hospitalization the Dunlap’s received endless support from family and friends. Meals every night, someone to stay with Viv once a week at the hospital so they could rejuvenate, and always a shoulder to cry on. As a result they were able to be fully present for Viv, learning her care, loving her for a lifetime in those 59 days.

They quickly realized that their presence was the exception. It wasn’t that other parents didn’t want to be next to their child, the demands life required of them outside the hospital just didn’t stop. They left the hospital devastated that their arms were empty, but Maria’s heart was full of the need to do something.

To fulfill that need, Reviv started to meet families as close to their child’s diagnosis as possible and work with them and the child’s care team to give personalized practical and emotional care for families in order to walk beside them when their child is diagnosed with a life-limiting or life-altering illness. Reviv focuses care in four key levels of support: Family and Sibling, Hospital, Home and Bereavement.

It’s been 8 years since Vivian has died, but over 6,000 families have received support during some of their scariest moments because of Reviv. We are thankful for the opportunity to continue to bridge gaps, build community and bring hope to families for years to come.

days of love

years of support

families helped

Our Families

Read the Latest Stories

The Koslowski Family

When the doctors told us that there was no program in our big state of Michigan to help Olivia and that we needed to be referred to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, we were overwhelmed. Our first priority was to find a place to stay so that Olivia would...

The Newman Family

My husband and I have been a therapeutic foster/adoptive family for 5 years. We have adopted 2 medical needs children and fostered 36 children. We have an older daughter that just graduated nursing school. Our children at home are RyLee, Ryder, Bradyn,...

Mackenzie

Meet Makenzie!! Reviv was introduced to 11-year-old Makenzie and her mom Alina in October 2020 when we learned they were traveling to from West Virginia to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to receive treatment for Makenzie’s chronic...