Ashley House, a nonprofit dedicated to caring for medically fragile children in home-like settings, is set to open its new 5,400-square-foot administrative offices on Dec. 2 in Federal Way.

Located at 33811 Ninth Ave. S., the new two-story building will serve as the home base for Ashley House’s 75 employees.

“Our administrative offices will include the executive office, accounting and human resources,” said Ken Maaz, Ashley House chief executive officer. “There will be room for ongoing staff training and new staff orientation, which will be a great benefit.”

Ashley House was founded in 1989 by a group of parents and health care advocates who recognized the gap in quality, cost-effective, comprehensive care for Washington state’s medically fragile children.

Steve Freeborn, one of the founders of Ashley House and the Ashley House board president, felt inspired to do more for medically fragile children after he and his wife Sue gave birth to their son in March 1987.

The Freeborns’ son was born with a whole host of birth defects. He passed away in 1990.

“He had heart issues. He was blind and deaf. He was a fighter. There is God in every child,” Steve Freeborn said. “So much of society wanted to institutionalize my son and forget about him.”

With the help of a social worker at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, the Freeborns along with about a dozen others came together to form Ashley House.

Today, the nonprofit is one of the largest and the oldest of its kind in Washington state, and recognized worldwide. Health care professionals from countries including Russia and Japan have come to observe Ashley House’s work.

Since 1989 Ashley House has operated a 10,000-square-foot mansion on six acres of property in Enumclaw. At one time, up to 16 children were housed on the first floor, with administrative offices on the second floor. Over the years licensing requirement changes has reduced the number of children down to six.

Freeborn said the board has decided to eventually vacate that home in Enumclaw and move the children to one of Ashley House’s four operating homes. The administrative offices have been moved to the new Federal Way location.

Freeborn said having the administrative offices centrally located in Federal Way makes more sense. The location is easily accessible by Ashley House employees and closer to Seattle Children’s Hospital and Mary Bridge Hospital, two medical centers regularly referring children to Ashley House.

In addition to their four homes located in Tacoma, Kent, Olympia and Enumclaw, Ashley House is in the process of opening a new home in Edgewood catering to the long-term care of young adults ages 18 to 30.

“We wanted a new young adult home, because there are not a lot of resources as they age out of the children system,” Maaz said. “The alternative is for them to go to a nursing home or an adult family home. But those are gauged for geriatrics.

This new home is geared more toward the young adult age group.”

The new Edgewood property at 11306 Eighth St. E. is a single family home and will be licensed to care for six young adults.

“A nurse and two aids will provide care around the clock,” Maaz said. “We will be helping clients with integration into the community. It will be a longer-term stay. In most cases, they won’t be transitioning from the hospital to home.”

The Edgewood home is expected to open in summer 2016. With the addition of this fifth home, Ashley House will have the capacity to care for up to 32 children and young adults annually.

Children who are referred to Ashley House are in need of transitionary care between the hospital and home. In some cases, parents may be unable to care for the child at home, so the child is taken care of at Ashley House and parents visit regularly, learning along the way how to eventually care for their child at home.

“These children who are born with birth defects, that’s the quality of life that God has given them,” Freeborn said. “That means dealing with pain on a daily basis. We try to do the best we can to provide the best quality of life for them.”

Maaz said most children in Ashley House’s care attend public school.

“We try to normalize their life as much as possible,” Maaz said. “As much as possible, we try to get them out in the community. We had two boys in our Enumclaw house go to their homecoming dance.”

Maaz, who has been CEO of several nonprofits since 1987, said Ashley House is the most joyful place he has worked.

“It’s largely because of our kids,” he said. “It’s amazing how much love they have for life.”

Ashley House welcomes the public to an open house from 3-8 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 17, at its new administrative offices in Federal Way.

“We welcome anyone to come in and learn about Ashley House and what we do,” Maaz said.

For more information, visit www.ashleyhousekids.com.