How did you come to be at Family House?
My wife, Megan, was the Resident Manager here at Family House and that was in September of 1997 or 1998. Then in 2001 I became a Weekend Manager. And in 2002 I became the Resident Manager.
How has Family House changed since you first started?
When I first started, Megan and I were living in the manager’s unit at the 50 Irving Street house – we had only 10 bedrooms available for families, and at the time, this was the only building Family House had to work with. It was light and lean; a wonderful small nonprofit serving families primarily in the oncology department. We had three rooms for patients receiving chemotherapy, three rooms for bone marrow transplant patients, and three rooms for radiation patients. There was an unfortunate limitation of families served due to our limited resources. Then in 2002, when we opened the new house on 10th and Irving, we were able to help house the entire out-of-town pediatric oncology patient population. We went from ten rooms to thirty-four rooms, and that was very exciting!
What are some of your favorite Family House memories?
Definitely giving guitar lessons to kids, singing songs with the kids, and Christmases are definitely a highlight. I will always remember being Santa Claus on Christmas Eve - putting presents outside families’ doors and giving them just a little jolt of good Christmas cheer while they are all so far away from home. Nothing is as satisfying as being able to give these families a little bit of happiness while they are going through such a difficult time in life.
Learn more about the caring staff at Family House: http://www.familyhouseinc.org/staff.html
