Health Care Staff
Sheila Dodds
Medical social worker
Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin
For 26 years, Sheila Dodds has supported families as a medical social worker in oncology at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.
In addition to supporting families through her role at the hospital, Dodds has worked to make wishes come true for many of the families she meets.
Dodds consistently refers children to Make-A-Wish Wisconsin, resulting in nearly 1,000 Wisconsin children receiving their wish over the past 20 years.
“As a social worker, I find it very rewarding to empower children and their families,” Dodds says. “Following a referral to Make-A-Wish, I often see the wish child and family become energized in the planning and anticipation of the wish.”
Back in 1996, Dodds referred a 10-year-old boy and his wish to create a “man cave” in his basement as an escape to go to when he was not at the hospital receiving chemotherapy treatment. After receiving his wish, the boy saw an opportunity to pay it forward. His family, friends, school and community raised money for Make-A-Wish and the boy even participated on the Make-A-Wish walk/run steering committee. His family continues to volunteer and support the Make-A-Wish mission.
Dodds also served as a medical advisor to the Make-A-Wish Wisconsin board of directors and most recently, in 2014, she joined the board as wish granting chair. She wears many hats on the board, guiding the Make-A-Wish Wisconsin Mission Delivery department, participating on the Wish Granting committee and working with the chapter to navigate medical eligibility questions.
