Parents with a critically ill newborn in Comer Children's Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit no longer have to pay to park their car while sitting at their baby's bedside. The Jackson Chance Foundation has expanded its free NICU parking program to the Hyde Park hospital, making it the nonprofit's fourth hospital partner in the Chicago area.
The expansion, reported by ABC7 Chicago, brings free parking to families at Comer Children's Hospital, located on the University of Chicago Medical Center campus in Hyde Park. Before reaching the South Side, the foundation had already built partnerships with Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern Medicine Prentice Women's Hospital, and Rush University Children's Hospital, according to CBS News. Comer's Level IV NICU cares for some of the most critically ill newborns, per the ABC7 report, and the hospital operates the only Level I Pediatric Trauma Center on Chicago's South Side.
A Nonprofit Born From One Family's 10 Months in the NICU
The foundation traces its origins to Carrie and Terry Meghie, who created the organization in 2013 after their own son's experience in intensive care. Jackson spent all 10 months of his life in the NICU before he died, and his parents spent every day at his side during that time — a stretch that cost the couple nearly $2,000 in parking fees, ABC7 reports. Carrie Meghie went on to found the Jackson Chance Foundation in his memory; the CBS News report notes Jackson would have been nearly 15 years old this year.
That personal loss shaped the foundation's mission: ensuring no parent has to choose between paying for parking and being with a critically ill baby. The organization now provides complimentary parking to every NICU family it serves, with passes that include 24/7 access and unlimited in-and-out privileges lasting the family's entire time in the NICU.
How the Program Works at Comer
At Comer Children's Hospital specifically, the parking program allows families to enter and exit the garage up to five times a day without incurring additional charges, according to the ABC7 report. Hospital leaders said the program removes another burden for overwhelmed parents already managing a medical crisis. Dr. Emily Chase, the incoming president of Comer Children's Hospital, is named among the hospital leadership tied to the rollout.
The financial stakes behind that gesture are steep. Unsubsidized visitor parking at major Chicago academic medical centers can run upwards of $75 a day, according to the Jackson Chance Foundation, which can push a family's out-of-pocket costs past $1,000 a month during a NICU stay. The foundation also notes the average NICU admission nationally lasts 28 days, with the most critical cases stretching into multiple months — meaning those parking costs compound fast, often on top of rent or mortgage payments back home.
A Board Member's Own Story
John Collins, now a Jackson Chance Foundation board member, knows that math firsthand. His son was born two months early at Northwestern Medicine's Prentice Women's Hospital and was immediately taken to the NICU. A foundation parking pass ended up saving Collins more than $1,000, and he shared it with grandparents and other visitors coming to see the baby, according to the ABC7 report.
The stakes go beyond dollars and cents. Clinical guidance published by the American Academy of Pediatrics highlights that non-medical costs like parking are a significant barrier to parent visitation, while regular parental presence and skin-to-skin contact directly improve infants' heart rates, oxygen levels, and neurodevelopment. Comer's NICU sits directly adjacent to UChicago Medicine's Family Birth Center, allowing high-risk newborns to move straight from delivery into intensive care without external transport, per UChicago Medicine.
Fundraising and What Comes Next
To sustain the program, the foundation leans heavily on its signature fundraiser, the Ping Pong Ball — a March Madness-style table tennis tournament captained by Chicago sports figures including former Chicago Bear Jerry Azumah and former Cub Randy Wells. The event raised $440,000 at SPIN Chicago in River North during its 11th annual run last November, according to Do312.
Since its founding, the Jackson Chance Foundation has raised more than $9.5 million and has provided more than 1 million days of free parking, serving thousands of families along the way, per the ABC7 report. The nonprofit says it plans to expand the free-parking model to hospitals beyond Chicago, though details on specific future partnerships have not been disclosed. The broader public health backdrop underscores why the effort matters: the national preterm birth rate has stayed above 10% for three straight years through 2024, with preterm birth and low birth weight ranking as the second leading cause of infant mortality in the country, according to A Better Balance.
