Volunteer Spotlight: Jackie Ruiz

Jackie Ruiz is an extra special Family House volunteer.  She just finished 
a semester at University of San Francisco – part of her studies included service hours at the 50 Irving Street office.  Not only is she very easy going, smart, reliable, and friendly - Jackie dedicated extra hours (beyond the 100-hour university requirement) helping at Family House to ensure that the holiday card was sent out on time to important supporters, ensuring that critical services are funded.

Jackie decided to volunteer at Family House because she wanted to be a part of something that would make her grow as a person and help others.  She really wanted to give back and support a cancer organization. Her personal connection? Her own mother just celebrated being cancer-free for 5 years.

Thank you so much Jackie for all of your help this semester. Your thoughtfulness is truly touching, and we appreciate everything you have done to help keep Family House running smoothly. We adore USF volunteers and we were very excited to have your help this semester! Thank you for everything!

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

 

Manuel, A Miracle Baby

Manuel spent the first 10 weeks of his life in the hospital and at Family House.

This 5-lb miracle baby was born via emergency c-section with Transient Myeloproliferative Disorder, a type of Leukemia that affects children with Down Syndrome. At only six days old, he underwent heart surgery to close a hole in his heart. This was followed immediately by weeks of chemotherapy to treat his cancer.

"Manuel was in and out of the hospital for the first two months of his life. He had fluid building around his heart that wouldn't drain on its own. He got a lung infection and had to be on oxygen because his lungs weren't working properly," says Patty, Manuel's mother.

The day after the above photo was taken, his parents, Patty and Rosendo, would bring him home for the first time.

"At Family House, everyone was friendly and open, everyone was willing to help. It's nice staying there - a little home away from home."  Now 8 months old, Manuel can do the things that other babies can do, like hold his own bottle, roll over, and sit up on his own. He's starting to talk, too.

"His heart and pulmonary counts are great. He's doing what normal babies do; we're very happy, we're very proud of him."

Please donate today to Family House so we can help babies like Manuel have a happy, healthy future: https://familyhouse.ejoinme.org/holidaymiracles 

Click here to learn more about Family House families:
http://www.familyhouseinc.org/family-stories.html 

Volunteer Spotlight: Raissa Bump

Raissa Bump has volunteered as the Family House Yoga instructor for the past 3 years. She heard about Family House through a previous volunteer. Raissa is dedicated to providing monthly yoga sessions to the families at Family House.  Each month she sets up a yoga class and offers the service to families and staff. She is able to teach all levels, from beginner to advanced, and takes extra caution when working directly with the patients. 

Yoga helps relieve some of the emotional, social, and physical stresses that our families are going through. Yoga practices breathing techniques, behavioral guidelines, and physical posture improvements that can be incredibly valuable.

Besides donating her time by volunteering with Family House, Raissa has a thriving business selling amazing jewelry, handmade knit items, and gorgeous clothing.

Raissa, we love your energy and dedication to the families each time you visit Family House. Thank you!

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

Boswick the Clown came to Family House!

     Boswick is the San Francisco Bay Area's premier family entertainer. An accomplished clown, juggler, and magician, Boswick has provided quality entertainment and fun for thousands of people across the country. He has been involved with Family House for many years and has provided endless laughter and joy to our families and their children.

  

           "I’ve been doing the Thanksgiving Family House event for a lot of years. I do a lot of shows, I’m approaching 7500 shows in my career but this is the show I get most nervous about. A lot of the kids have seen me, Raul’s family alone has been there now 2 years, they’ve seen me numerous times. Some kids will have nothing to do with me, the staff has certainly seen me and the volunteers look at me like this... “uh huh...a clown...” I’m a celebrity among these kids, they see my picture around, they all either own one of my DVDs or have easy access to it. In the Family House world, I’m Robin Williams. It’s pretty cool but a lot to live up to. And then there are kids like Lana, Hannah (who I called Hanukah), Max and Rubin, neither of whom could speak. These kids laughed and laughed hard. These kids are in my life forever, with their laughter.
           Kids need laughter like they need dessert. A child can live without both but that’s not a life you want for a child. It’s fun to see kids eat birthday cake and it’s just a kick to see children laugh. Each year I get the kids (and crowds) laughing harder and harder. I guess that’s what I get nervous about; can I top what I did the year before? Will the kids respond? I don’t know. Performing is walking a tight rope, I get big rewards in laughs and hugs but it’s a bit scary climbing to the wire.
           Hopefully I can keep coming back year after year. This is the show that makes me nervous, it’s also the show with the most reward."

-Boswick



        All of us at Family House really appreciate the smiles and laughs that Boswick brings us. A father staying at one of our houses sumed it up pretty well; "It's a beautiful sound when you hear any person, but in particular a little child, laugh so hard they can't control themselves. Those kids and (ahem) some of the adults, were "taken away" for awhile. Very therapeutic, very fun."

     So we thank you Boswick, so much, for entertaining us and for keeping our families laughing! Please visit Boswick's website for more informations: http://www.boswick.net/index.php?gclid=CPT5yfGuy6wCFacaQgodpChMJw 

Inspiration to get you through your day!

"If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them. When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or fight like hell."

                  --Lance Armstrong

Saint Veronica Student Council Serves Sensational Family House

by Diego M., Kyle McA., Tory P., Alex M., and Maya McG

On Friday, November 15, St. Veronica Student Council visited Family House in San Francisco. Family House acts as a “home away from home” for families with children that have terminal illnesses. Family House provides a place where they can take a break and live their normal life in a less hectic way. These families’ original homes are at least 50 miles away from UCSF Children’s Hospital. Being that far away from the hospital and having to drive back and forth everyday can exhaust the families. Staying at Family House brings them much closer to the hospital, and it models their lives back at home.

Once we arrived at Family House, we were taken aback at how much this organization does to support the families in need, and we were excited to work as its partner. At Family House, Student Council members were split up into three teams to stock the food pantries with donations we bought with money from our Haunted House and with food we received from our Bake Sale. Each group put the donations we collected as a school on the shelves for the families to take and eat. The groups wiped down the food packages to keep bacteria away and organized the pantries so that in the future, families can find food quickly and easily. Each floor also received new pillows and towels (donated by S.V.) that Student Council helped to put away. We did this because after a long day, some of the families just want to eat dinner and prepare for the next day of treatment. Family House is clean and organized so the families’ lifestyles won’t be chaotic.

Our experience at Family House changed our perspective on exactly how an entire family is affected when one member is sick. We take our health and our homes for granted, while these families wish they were at home in good health. In the future, we would love to help Family House even more.

Thank you Family House for our great experience!

From all of us at Family House, thank you, St. Veronica students, for being outstanding volunteers and giving back to your community!

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

Family House Family Stories: Mike and Deneen

The latest Family House Family Stories video - Mike and Deneen! This courageous family has been staying at Family House on and off for 9 years, and their son, Michael, is in remission! Watch more Family Stories videos at http://www.familyhouseinc.org/videos.html

Time Lapse Construction of the Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House

Check out this fun time lapse video of the start of the Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House at Mission Bay! We broke ground on September 17, 2014, and will open our doors to 80 families per night in January, 2016! Read more about the project here: http://www.familyhouseinc.org/mission-bay.html

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 

20th Annual Jordan & Kyra Memorial Golf Tournament

 Perfect weather, good friends, and a great cause: the 20th Annual Jordan and Kyra Memorial Golf Tournament on Friday, October 18th. Picture getting together with 150 of your golf buddies for your annual day-in-the-sun, all benefiting the Jordan & Kyra Memorial Foundation.  The Jordan & Kyra team went all-out with decorations at the Seascape Golf Club in Aptos, California - including photo boards with pictures from the last 2 decades.

The Jordan & Kyra Memorial Foundation was created in memory of Jordan Stuart and Kyra Pillsbury, and raises money for brain tumor research, and to provide free housing at Family House in San Francisco. Both Jordan and Kyra, along with their families, were guests at Family House before they lost their battles with cancer.  This annual event is a great way to cherish their memories, and keep their playful spirits alive through hope, dignity, and comfort of families currently undergoing treatment for cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

Congratulations to the Jordan & Kyra team for putting on such a successful event, and to all of the donors, volunteers, and attendees - this event shines because of you!

To see more event photos, visit:
http://on.fb.me/1dEjHpP

To learn more about the Jordan & Kyra Memorial Foundation, visit: http://www.jordanandkyra.org/

Family House Partners with Coach Art

Family House is very excited with our new partnership with Coach Art - this program is great in so many ways - it offers an ongoing experience for talented volunteers who want to help sick kids and their siblings in recreational activities. This is an opportunity to work with a child over a long period of time, rather than a one-time volunteer experience.

Coach Art gives volunteer teachers an opportunity to see their students grow and thrive, and to see how they are really impacting the students' lives. On the flip side, it gives students a regular opportunity to do something creative that interests them; it's dedicated attention, and something to look forward to each week.

We love that Coach Art includes siblings, too, since the whole family is affected by one child's illnesses.  For longer stays at Family House, families are away from home for months at a time. Kids are pulled away from their regular community of school and friends (and teams and art and music classes), and may not have this kind of outlet available to them through Child Life Services at the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital.  Child Life provides a wonderful complement of services to patient families, but they simply can't recreate all the comforts of home.

Thank you, Coach Art Mentors for helping to bring a bit of home to Family House kids!

http://www.coachart.org

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

Family House Family Stories videos: Margo and Jimmy

Watch the latest Family House Family Stories video: Margo and Jimmy

Jimmy has been battling Medulloblastoma for the last 7 years.  He's a fighter, and is looking forward to a bright future.

Click here to learn more about Family House families:
http://www.familyhouseinc.org/family-stories.html 

Ronin, Warrior Princess

Watch the latest Family House Family Stories video: Ronin, Warrior Princess

See all the Family Stories videos at http://www.familyhouseinc.org/videos.html

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month! Family House supports families of children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses being treated at the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital.  With your support, we provide comfort, community, courage, and dignity, cost-free to all families.

http://www.familyhouseinc.org

Family House Short Video

This video features Family House staff and families, and doctors from the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, and is a great look into the mission of Family House.

Click here to learn more about Family House families:
http://www.familyhouseinc.org/family-stories.html  

Thanking the Community

Family House is fortunate to have such wide community support - everything from Inner Sunset neighbors who solicit donations on our behalf to international companies who rally hundreds of employees behind us for donations and volunteer hours.  We truly could not provide the services of Family House without the support of every member of our community!

Recently, we were contacted by Golden Gate Pedicab company - they wanted to know what they could do to help.  After some discussion, it was decided that they would give free rides along the Embarcadero to families from the Ferry Building to Pier 39 - a perfect "tourist" experience for families who are otherwise disabled and distracted by medical treatment, and can't take advantage of visiting San Francisco.

Then our volunteer coordinators, Greg and Karen, put their heads together, and said, "Who else do we know downtown who has offered to help Family House?"  Pier 39 donated VIP passes for the day, and Ben & Jerry's provided the ice cream for our special guests.

It is through the efforts and kindness of these special people in San Francisco that we were able to help families forget about their troubles for an afternoon.  Sunshine, ice cream, and a tour along the San Francisco Bay - what could be better?

Thank you to Golden Gate Pedicab, PIER 39, and Ben & Jerry's for this special day, and for all you do for Family House families!  Love!

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

Volunteer Spotlight: Jordan Phan and Justin Azar

How does one define an amazing volunteer? Family House defines this as dependable, friendly, outgoing, and motived, with a strong desire to help families. With that being said, we have had the pleasure of having two amazing and devoted summer high school volunteers - Jordan Phan (graduating class of 2014) and Justin Azar (graduating class of 2015). Not only did they volunteer for the program last year, they have also stepped it up to lead an entire team of high school volunteers during the summer of 2013. Jordan and Justin were introduced to Family House at the 2012 St. Ignatius Volunteer Fair, where they received information about the Family House Summer Volunteer Program. Their creativity, drive, and ideas were key in completing the summer project to make a Thank You video for the band Train.

What makes these two so special is that they came back to Family House to lead the next year’s class of summer volunteers. They planned and managed activities for the incoming sophomores and juniors for the summer 2013 Program. They have brought their own special talents to Family House as well. Justin isn't just the top swimmer at his school; he also loves to bake, and has led some tasty activities including baking cakes, cookies, and other treats for the families. (He plans to return to Family House in 2014 to lead the next group of Summer Volunteers!) Jordan, who will graduate high school this coming school year, has plans to attend medical school. She has participated in another service learning project at Habitat for Humanity, and currently attends undergraduate anatomy classes at Stanford University.

Thank you so much to Justin and Jordan for your amazing abilities, your creativity, and the care you give to the Family House mission. Family House adores you both, and we look forward to seeing you succeed in your future endeavors!  You have both worked so hard over the past year and half, and Family House wouldn’t be the same without you!

To see the photos from the Summer Volunteer Program, click here: http://www.facebook.com/FamilyHouseSF

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

Founder to Founder, by Arthur Ablin, M.D., December 2012

Sit down with me for a few minutes and become moved as I have by this touching yet uplifting story about one of our Family House’s remarkable and resilient patients and his loving, supportive family.

Austin Young, now 18 years old was stricken (yes, that’s the word) at 6 months of age with a cancer of the retinas of both his eyes. The stage of his cancer, a retinoblastoma, was such that without treatment he would certainly have rapidly become blind and died as a young child. Infant Austin and his family were presented with devastating alternative choices for treatment: One was the immediate removal of both eyes with instant blindness; The other option available was radiation therapy to both of his infant eyes with only a hope, not a promise, that his life could be saved with a slight possibility that some modicum of vision might be retained. The price for this latter choice would be cataracts in both eyes with obvious facial changes as the rest of his face and head grew. If that were not overwhelming by itself, survivors of retinblastoma of both eyes have a high life-long chance of developing other cancers later increased by the very radiation therapy used to treat the original retinoblastoma. Those second cancers are difficult to treat and may or may not be curable.

Imagine with me the stresses associated with decision making this family was going through. No good choices, only bad or worse ones. How can anyone be asked to make them? It doesn’t seem fair to ask any parent to make these decisions for their child. Exacting daily radiation therapy in the UCSF Department of Radiation Oncology for several weeks requiring motionless eyes and therefore, daily anesthesia for several weeks was their least horrendous treatment choice. The family stayed at Family House during these many weeks of radiation and the monthly follow up visits for many years. During that time and the innumerable check-up examinations required, Austin, his parents and sister, Bonnie, David, and Lauren called Family House home. They survived and Austin adjusted, even excelled with remarkable strength of character in spite of his impaired vision and physical disability.

Now 18 years later, 6 foot delightful Austin is blind in his left eye and has 20/200 vision in his right eye (sees at 20 feet what a person with normal vision can see at 200 feet). He has under growth of the mid portion of his face making him easily distinguishable among his peers, an appearance with which he has become comfortable because of his engaging, pleasant smile, a twinkle in his poorly sighted eyes and his quiet demeanor. If that were not enough, more of the medical story continues. At age 16, 2 years ago, cured from his retinoblastoma, a popular, productive and bright sophomore in Bella Vista high school dealing successfully with his visual and physical disabilities, Austin and his family discovered a rapidly growing lump in his left upper neck. Austin had developed a different, second cancer at the left side of his face. It required a meticulous 16 hour operation, then months of chemotherapy with further radiation therapy. Long stays in at UCSF and at Family House were then again required with the hope this second cancer had been cured. Unfortunately, less than a year later there is a recurrence of his rhabdomyosarcoma. Austin and his family are guests again at Family House while he is receiving yet another course of alternative chemotherapy and cyber knife radiation surgery. Austin and his family know the outcome of this treatment is questionable but face this with realistic optimism, humor and characteristic determination.

In spite of missing many days and weeks of school Austin managed to keep up with his class work, and recently graduated from high school and has been accepted to start U.C. Davis. High intensive chemotherapy and radiation therapy require that he defers Davis now. Austin recognizes the important role Family House has been for him and his family, both in the support with other families over the years and the high cost that would have resulted in finding accommodations in San Francisco. To express appreciation to Family House for all that he and his family received, Austin, whose goal in life is to become a computer engineer, created a social event called “Gaming 4 a Cause” to support Family House. He elicited support from classmates and with his and their parents established a non-profit charity of which he is the president. His 17 and 18 year old classmates are the vice-president, financial officer, treasurer and publicity director, and secretary. This team has acquired the necessary hardware through contributions and careful purchasing , arranged rent-free space at Fuddrucker’s World’s Greatest Hamburger restaurant outside of Sacramento where they hold week-end events charging small entrance fees. Participants form teams which compete to win electronic prizes such as controllers, mice and software. During the past several months attendance has steadily grown and the profits for an evening of spirited fun and clean sociability have been as high as $1600. The restaurant is glad to have them! As the popularity increases and all the details of his enterprise are further fine-tuned, Austin and his sister Lauren are spreading the word and know how of Gaming 4 a Cause to other schools hoping to multiply the profits for Family House. A quiet smile creeps over his face, his poorly sighted eyes twinkle and he softly says “It’s for Family House.” Go Austin! Go Youngs! Go Family House! We are here for each other and all other thousands of children and their families that are called Family House.

July 2013 UPDATE: Austin has finished chemotherapy and radiation, and is headed to UC Davis this fall.  Keep an eye on Gaming 4 a Cause happenings at www.gaming4acause.org

Click here to learn more about Family House families:
http://www.familyhouseinc.org/family-stories.html 

Healthcare Hospitality Week from July 20th-26th!

Family House is partnering with the Healthcare Hospitality Network (HHN) for a week of awareness about the work of healthcare hospitality houses. HHN is a national coalition of nearly 200 healthcare hospitality houses that do work similar to Family House across the country, providing a home away from home for thousands of families each year.

In celebration of Healthcare Hospitality Week week, Family House is pulling out all the stops, including a catered Sunday brunch for families, a staff personal development day, an Open House for UCSF doctors, social workers, and employees, and a special Board Member lunch.

We are proud to be part of the Healthcare Hospitality Network, and to be celebrating the work that our partners do nationwide!

Learn about the caring staff at Family House:  http://www.familyhouseinc.org/staff.html