Today, their futures look bright. They run and play and learn and smile. Yesterday was a different story. For Isaac-Smith, the decision to go to Cambodia was a simple one. She knew that in addition to offering pain relief and comfort for these young AIDS patients, it was important to remind the children that they are valued, they are loved, and they are touchable... full story>>

Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is working with the Santa Monica-based Heart Touch Project to minimize pain, and increase comfort in hospitalized children and their families through massage therapy in a collaboration marking one of the first comprehensive pediatric massage programs of its kind in the United States, according to Michael Joseph, M.D., associate director of the Comfort and Pain Management Program at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, and assistant clinical professor of pediatrics and anesthesiology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. Both organizations also are collaborating on a study of the effects of massage on medically complex babies in the Center for Newborn and Infant Critical Care (CNICC) at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles to determine if those who receive massage gain weight faster, and are discharged sooner, than those who do not receive massage… full story>

Actress Rene Russo attends The Heart Touch Project's "One Night, One Heart" tribute dinner at the Sofitel Hotel on May 13, 2008 in Los Angeles, California…  full story>

Massage therapist Tina Allen was making one of her routine hospital visits when the father of a hospitalized child approached her with a question. Allen is director of the Children’s  Program for The Heart Touch Project in Los Angeles, California, a nonprofit group providing compassionate touch to local homebound and hospitalized men, women, and children. The father’s little girl was only six years old, severely injured in an auto accident, and now quadriplegic. “He recognized my Heart Touch shirt and asked if I had given his daughter a massage,” Allen says. “We talked for a moment in the hall, while the ice he was getting for his daughter was melting away. He was so thankful that Heart Touch had provided massage for his daughter. Over the six weeks she had been in the hospital, she hadn’t been able to sleep. Every part of her body ached, and she couldn’t get comfortable. After her first massage she finally slept...  full story>

L'Oreal Paris is proud to announce that it will continue to celebrate the spirit of community achievement and volunteerism with its second Women of Worth program. The Women of Worth initiative is inspired by L'Oreal Paris' iconic brand philosophy, "Because I'm Worth It" and recognizes the achievements of real women who embody the spirit of the L'Oreal brand-women who possess self-confidence and are committed to distinguishing their own lives by making a difference in the lives of others...full story>

When Jeremy, a premature baby, was hospitalized at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, he had difficulty sleeping, his tiny fists were clenched, and his skin was  jaundiced. His stress level increased as he was poked and prodded with a series of painful medical procedures necessary to save his life.  Then, Lily, a trained massage therapist from the Heart Touch Project Children’s Program, began massaging and soothing him. Moments later, his fists relaxed and Baby massage strokes on the leghe fell peacefully asleep… full story>

For this Heart Touch volunteer, massaging people with AIDS is spiritually healing. And for clients, like 14-year-old Juliette, who is HIV positive, the experience also goes deeper than their muscles.…​full story>