Triage Consulting Group: Rockstar Family House Volunteers

If you've been to a Family House fundraising event in the last few years, Triage Consulting Group volunteers have been there, helping with everything from set-up to check-in to selling raffle tickets and more.  If you've been to Family House as a guest or visitor or volunteer, there's a good chance you've been there with volunteers from Triage, there throwing a party for the kids, reorganizing the garage, painting a stairwell, making a meal…

Triage Consulting Group addresses the financial needs of health care providers in the Bay Area and beyond. The company offers its 450 employees in San Francisco and Atlanta Volunteer Time Off (VTO) to each employee, and everyone is encouraged to take time to help out in their community. This culminates in a special "Founder's Day" project - Family House has been a fortunate recipient of Triage's partnership for several years now. On "Founder's Day," Triage volunteers do a complete overhaul of a Family House bedroom - repainting, adding brand new closet organizers and decorations to the room - really sprucing it up to make it something special for families staying there.

James Zackler has been working at Triage since 2010, and has become an enthusiastic champion for Family House - joining the Family House Young Professionals Advisory Council, and now becoming YPAC Chair. Here's what he had to say about Triage, Family House, and YPAC:

"Throughout the year, Triage typically brings anywhere from 25-35 people to Family House for a party, like the Halloween party: pumpkin decorating, t-shirt/costume making, mask decorating, face painting, and trick-or-treat bag decorating. Triagers also put up Halloween decorations inside and outside of the house. While we run these activities, other Triage volunteers are cooking meals for families: lasagna, individual chicken pot pies, rice krispy treats, and pumpkin pie bars. We do something similar in December: we decorate the house with lights, stockings, trees, etc., and cook a big meal for everyone to enjoy.

"Triage has a lot of young, fun employees, which creates a very enjoyable work environment where many create lasting friendships outside of the office. Outside of work hours, we organize volunteers for Family House fundraising events such as Cabernet for Connoisseurs, San Francisco Magazine's Best of the Bay, the Annual Spring Gala, and Bubbles & Bling.

"I got involved in YPAC out of an interest in being more involved in Family House. I had spent many hours working at Family House events through Triage and was looking for an outlet to give back in my personal life as well. I was blessed to be born to a family whose values dictated that in exchange for food security, a good education, and a loving atmosphere, it was my duty to help others who were not as fortunate. Family House has provided me an ability to give back in many ways.  Plus working with Amy, Karen, Greg, and the others is always fun. We are looking to come up with new initiatives (e.g. kickstarter campaign, more networking events/newsletters) and to improve on our previous successes (Shipwrecked, young professional outreach). 

"I feel like Triage will never stop trying to help Family House. As our firm continues to grow in size, this means more VTOs, while exploring original ways to help further Family House’s mission. With Family House's new Mission Bay location, I am sure there will be fresh opportunities for Triage to provide support as well.

"I can genuinely say that the volunteer work Triagers do – while providing benefit to Family House – is a great benefit to Triagers and their future communities. Providing new Triagers the opportunity to visit Family House and help at Cabernet for Connoisseurs & Best of the Bay instills personal philanthropy in many of them. Each year, there is a new group of Triagers that makes the transition from the mindset of a college student that has little money and skill to offer the community to a young professional that has more of both. So – thank you Family House and thank you Triage for providing opportunity to discover the personal benefits of community service. "

Family House could not exist without volunteers like those from Triage. We love you so much and thank you for everything you do for our families! http://triageconsulting.com/

Get involved with Family House! Learn more at http://www.familyhouseinc.org/volunteer.html

Volunteer Spotlight: Paul & Leslie Radcliffe

Family House volunteers are some of the most dedicated, understanding, and caring individuals there are! Two amazing volunteers who have come to Family House are husband and wife Paul and Leslie Radcliffe. Paul and Leslie have become regulars several times a month at Family House by hosting monthly family dinners, helping on Saturday volunteer days, and providing event support at Family House fundraisers.

Leslie Radcliffe began volunteering with Family House when she took over managing an online group called Giving Tree through the website Meetup.com. Leslie plans and organizes different volunteer opportunities with non-profit organizations throughout the city. In addition to helping at Family House with dinners and Saturday activities, she and Paul have volunteered at Family House’s Young Professional Advisory Council’s 1st Annual Shipwrecked boat party in 2012. With volunteers such as Leslie and Paul, the event raised over $17,000 for Family House. Leslie will also be volunteering at the Bubbles & Bling event in November 2013.

Thank you so much to Leslie and Paul for your dedication to the families staying at Family House. You thoughtful meals and help at events and on the weekends enable Family House to continue to provide the services we offer! We are so lucky to have such amazing community support!

Get involved with Family House! Learn more at http://www.familyhouseinc.org/volunteer.html 

New Kitchens at Family House

 Thanks to a grant and generous donations, Family House is renovating all 6 kitchens at the 2 houses! Brand new countertops and cabinets will make for a nicer cooking experience for all of the families. The new cabinets have a larger capacity; this will really make a difference for families who are staying at Family House for a long time, since they are allowed to keep food only in the kitchen (to help prevent pest issues!). The kitchen is the heart of many homes, and Family House is no exception: it's one of the main places that families can bond over shared experiences, and be able to support each other.  This renovation project took a lot of time and effort for the Operations staff, but we are all so pleased with how the work looks in the end.  What do you think of the new kitchens?

Volunteer Spotlight: Helena Karnilowicz

Volunteer leader, marathon volunteer, research assistant. Is there anything that Helena Karnilowicz doesn’t do? Read more about the Family House July Volunteer Spotlight, and why she’s so awesome!

The work of a Volunteer Leader at Family house is never quite what one would expect. There are various ways in which they assist the staff at Family House: data entry, helping to manage family dinner nights, helping with the summer high school program.

Additionally this summer, Helena Karnilowicz took on the job of working the SF Marathon at a water station on behalf of Family house. She has been a huge help to the volunteer program as well as to other staff members helping with office projects.

Not only does Helena volunteer, but she also works for UCSF in a research program capacity understanding neurological and physiological aspects of the human brain. On top of everything, she is the President of her Psi Chi chapter at the University of San Francisco.

When Helena has a spare moment, she loves cooking, reading, exercising, and even cleaning1 Helena has gotten to know a lot of the volunteers and families, and is a huge help to the Volunteer Program. Thank you, Helena, for all of your hard work! Family House wouldn't be the same without you!

Get involved with Family House! Learn more at http://www.familyhouseinc.org/volunteer.html

Volunteer Spotlight: Wendy Chang

 Great volunteers make their way to Family House through all sorts of different channels. Wendy Chang first heard about Family House through our very own Social Media Coordinator, Joey Kotfica. Wendy and Joey volunteer together at Project Open Hand in San Francisco. Wendy has dedicated a majority of her time to volunteering at various organizations including: Hand on Bay Area, Aidswalk SF, AIDS Foundation and the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Wendy has been an extraordinary help to Family House both in the Business Office as well as at our Thanksgiving, Christmas parties and at our largest fundraiser of the year, Cabernet for Connoisseurs where over $1 Million dollars was raised.

In addition to volunteering, Wendy works part-time as an exam proctor for city and state government jobs and as a theater usher. She also enjoys reading, gardening and walking around San Francisco.

Wendy, you provide tremendous support to help events and projects run smoothly and always have a smile on your face! Thank you so much for your support at Family House!

Get involved with Family House! Learn more at http://www.familyhouseinc.org/volunteer.html