April 22, 2023, 6pm
Duke Children’s Health Center
Inpatients will also have ways to participate, and virtual attendance options will be made available.
Support for the Duke Children's Prom—now known as “Jodie’s Prom for Duke Children’s”—is provided by the Jodie Neukirch Elliott Fund at Duke, Meg’s Smile Foundation, the Division of Child and Family Mental Health and Community Psychiatry in the Duke Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, and Duke Children’s.
What is the prom like?
Check out the video and article below to see for yourself!
For One Night, a Hospital Lobby Turned into a Dance Floor
Sporting colorful dresses and suits, prom-goers snapped pictures and shared laughs in the hospital's lobby-turned-dance floor at the second annual Duke Children's Prom in April 2018.
Duke Children’s Prom Renamed “Jodie’s Prom for Duke Children’s”
Since 2017, Duke Children’s has held an annual prom for adolescent and young adult patients and their families. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the prom was held in the Duke Children’s Health Center lobby, and for the past two years, a virtual prom was held. Each year, more than 100 patients and their families have participated in the prom, including the virtual proms coordinated by Jodie Neukirch Elliott, MSW, a Duke social worker and leader of adolescent and young adult programs.
Jodie spent countless hours working with adolescent and young adult patients from the Adolescent Transitioning to Leadership and Success (ATLAS) program to plan the most recent virtual proms, even after having had a heart transplant in March 2020. Jodie died in August 2022 related to her chronic heart condition. In honor of her dedication to the Duke Children’s Prom and to adolescent and young adult patients at Duke, the prom is being renamed Jodie’s Prom for Duke Children’s.
Jodie’s devotion to young people and their families is an inspiration for us all. Her creative energy was exemplified by her development and delivery of the online Duke Children’s Prom during the pandemic. More than 170 members of the Duke community and Jodie’s family and friends have supported a fund at Duke—dubbed "Jodie's Fund"—to support adolescents and young adults and programs in Jodie’s honor.
“No one will judge you about, ‘Oh, you had cancer,’ or ‘Oh, you can’t walk.’ Everyone’s just out there dancing and having fun!”
— 2017 prom participant
Duke Children’s Prom History
The annual Duke Children’s Prom started in 2017. The event is organized by the Division of Child & Family Mental Health & Community Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences.
The prom has been made possible by support from the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Department of Pediatrics, and Duke Health. Major supporters have included Meg’s Smile Foundation, the Duke Hospital Auxiliary, The Pratt Family Foundation, Dunkin’ Joy in Childhood Foundation, Headbands for Hope, and many individuals and volunteers.
Learn more about our past proms:
- 2017 – The World is Yours
- 2018 – Out of this World (space theme)
- 2019 – Once upon a Prom (fairytale theme)
- 2021 – Rock the Night Away (1950's theme; virtual due to COVID)
- 2022 – Retro Prom (1980's theme; virtual due to COVID)
Supporting the Prom
If you would like to support the prom and other ATLAS programs, please click on the Donate Now button below to contribute to Jodie's Fund.
If you would prefer to send a donation by mail, please address your check to Duke University and write "ATLAS (Dr. Maslow)" in the memo line. Please mail the check to:
Duke Health Development
ATTN: Merissa Courtright/Jodie's Prom
300 W. Morgan Street, Suite #1000
Durham, NC 27701
Please contact Merissa Courtright (merissa.courtright@duke.edu) with any questions about donations.
For questions about the prom or other ATLAS programming, please contact us at atlas@duke.edu or 919-385-0842.