Camille is a lovely 9-year-old diagnosed with sickle cell anemia who has always dreamed of having a place she could call her own - a playhouse - a secret place to be with herself or with a friend. The Make-A-Wish® Foundation of Metro New York provided such a place - a dream playhouse just for Camille!

The young homeowner, who is very creative and enjoys painting, drawing, and playing the piano and violin, played an integral role in deciding on the colors and interior decoration of her house. She proudly explains that her pink and white backyard playhouse features a make-up table, a toy stove and refrigerator, a sink, a toy vacuum cleaner, a table with a couch, chairs and a rug. There’s a special area for various activities - just like in a real house! Her family completed the playhouse by supplying a working radio and a ventilation system. They also helped her to repaint the inside of the house, making it the perfect “second” home for Camille.

At the time Camille requested her playhouse, her family did not realize the amount of construction that their steeply sloped backyard would require. Fortunately, members of the community such as Nassau Educators Federal Credit Union, City of Glen Cove City Councilman Nick DiLeo and builder James O’Rourke provided resources and funds to restructure the land by creating a platform base for the house.

Now, Camille’s place is securely set up - complete with a miniature deck and fence - and Camille and her family generously invited all who made her wish come true to an official ribbon-cutting celebration. Camille explains that for her, the best part of this playhouse is that her best friend comes and visits often and they play all day. She admits that she is very careful as to whom she invites to her home ever since others visited and didn’t leave it the way Camille likes it - clean and homey! Now she invites only those friends who respect her things.

Camille also reports that one of the great things about her backyard playhouse is that she now has a place to go to be alone, dream and relax. She sometimes brings her lunch or snacks and even her dinner over to “Camille’s house” to eat in her own space. Camille’s true happiness with her special place shows in her beautiful smile. “It is always a pleasure to see the joy and excitement of a wish-come-true in the eyes of a wish kid such as Camille,” said Pat Clemency, President and CEO, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Metro New York, at the ribbon-cutting celebration. “The fact that the pink and white backyard house that she had wished for and that the Make-A-Wish Foundation provided was so expertly installed through the contributions of other members in our community confirms that we all have the power to grant a wish.”