Meet & Greet with Buster Posey

Thank you to the San Francisco Giants for the amazing opportunity for Family House families to meet Buster Posey and family, and enjoy the baseball game afterwards! This past Sunday, families got to spend time with Buster and the family, asking all kinds of questions about baseball from one of the best players in the MLB! We love how Kristen, Addison, and Lee get so involved in meeting families - and they even brought their pup to meet everyone, too! Thank you to the Poseys and the Giants for caring about Family House families and treating them to this once-in-a-lifetime experience!

Albert Schweitzer Fellowship 2017-18 Leadership Award

Congratulations to Board Chair Steve Goldfarb and Board Member/Family Services Committee Chair Linda Goldfarb on being recipients of the 2017-18 Albert Schweitzer Fellowship Leadership Award for Outstanding Community Service for 15 years of service to Family House.

Steve Goldfarb is the current Board Chair, and was instrumental in securing the land in Mission Bay upon which to build the 80-bedroom Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House, which opened in March, 2016. Linda Goldfarb is also on the Board of Directors, and is Chair of the Family Services Committee – a group of dedicated community members who identify areas of support for the parents and children staying at Family House.

Most recently, the Family Services Committee coordinated a Mother’s Day Celebration, which included local businesses contributing to a day of pampering for the moms at Family House. The Mother’s Day Celebration is just one of many special events where volunteers and donors come join together to lift the spirits of help families and help them live with dignity live in dignity during the most difficult time of their lives. In addition to their Board service, Linda and Steve volunteer at Family House with their 4PAWS therapy dogs, Fozzy and Ollie. They conceived of Fozzy’s Toy Room and helped see it through so that every child who comes to Family House can choose a new toy to call their own, and in turn be more comfortable at Family House. As the owners of Anomaly Vineyards in St. Helena, they have also participated in Cabernet for Connoisseurs, Family House’s largest annual fundraiser.

The Leadership Award for Outstanding Community Service is presented to individuals who, like Albert Schweitzer, have “made their lives their argument” by adopting Schweitzer’s Reverence for Life as the cornerstone for giving their time and resources to people, institutions, and causes that serve the neediest among us.

We thank them for their many years of service to Family House families, and congratulate them on this much-deserved award!

Meet & Greet with Buster Posey from the San Francisco Giants

Thanks to our friends at the Community Relations team at the San Francisco Giants, some very lucky Giants fans got to do a meet and greet with Buster Posey and his family at AT&T Park! More than 30 guests from Family House spent a little pre-game time with the Poseys, asking questions, taking pictures, and getting autographs - and then got to watch the home team Beat LA! Thank you to the Giants for this hats-off once in a lifetime experience! More photos at https://www.facebook.com/pg/FamilyHouseSanFrancisco/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10160231888570277

Happy Anniversary CFO Jessica Creager!

Everyone at Family House is delighted to celebrate our CFO, Jessica Creager, on the occasion of her 20th anniversary at Family House. Jessica is the hub of our wheel, making sure that our business/administrative office runs smoothly and efficiently. Far more importantly, Jessica’s sweet spirit of kindness and inclusion toward ALL who she encounters is the embodiment of our wish to make everyone feel welcome at Family House. 

Her professional achievements from HR to finance and management all things related to our business office have only increased over the past 20 years, and we look forward to the next 20 years of her leadership and guidance in many ways. Jessica, thank you for your stellar work (it hasn’t been easy!), and for making us all better people by your example of calm, warm, and professional demeanor.  You mean so much to everyone at Family House that we couldn’t be successful without your experience and expertise. On behalf of the Board of Directors, the families, volunteers and especially the staff, we mark this anniversary with gratitude and joy for our amazingly wonderful colleague.

Introducing The Arthur R. Ablin Award

Photo by Drew Altizer

In the memory of our co-founder, Dr. Arthur Ablin, Family House has created the Arthur R. Ablin Award for outstanding leadership and service to the Family House community. This is one of the many ways we will keep Art’s spirit alive for years to come.

The criteria for selection is simple:  the recipient must have demonstrated, over a significant period of time, Art’s passion for supporting sick children and their families at Family House through significant volunteerism and leadership.

Photo by Drew Altizer

The inaugural recipient selection was easy, in part, because we have achieved so much as an organization in the past five years with the new Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House. Congratulations to Scott Miller as the first recipient of the Arthur R. Ablin Award! He has shown devotion to our mission through countless hours of planning and meetings to help bring to life the Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House at Mission Bay.

Scott came to the Family House Board over ten years ago, jumped in with both feet, and took on the unforgiving task of leading Family House through a $43 million capital campaign, building design, construction, and opening. In his five years as the Chairman of the Board, he achieved all of this and more with a great deal of humor, patience, insight, wisdom, and exceptional leadership.

Please join us in congratulating Scott Miller in receiving the inaugural Arthur R. Ablin Award, as we thank him for all he has done for our families!

Family Stories: Tauriel’s Family

Family House Family Stories: Sharing the brave and inspiring stories of families of children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. This story features Tauriel G and her family, from Whiteriver, Arizona - they  have been staying at Family House in San Francisco for over a year while Tauriel undergoes treatment at the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital. Hear how Family House helped keep their family together in a time of crisis.

Family Stories: Paula’s Family

Watch the latest Family House Families Story: Paula's Family - our first "then and now" video:

Volunteer Spotlight: Anne Finigan

We love Anne Finigan! She's been volunteering at Family House since the early days in 1981!

Buster Posey at Family House

A huge thank you to the San Francisco Giants' Buster Posey and Kristen Posey for visiting Family House! What a treat for families to meet you both, sign autographs, and take photos! (And you squeezed in a bit of coloring with the kids, too!) We appreciate you taking the time from your busy schedules to take a tour and see our home away from home. Thank you for bringing volunteers with you from some of your sponsors and supporters - BODYARMOR SuperDrink, Esurance, Marucci, New Era Cap, Topps, Creative Artists Agency, and more! All the volunteers were excited to hear about our mission and jump in with a cleaning/disinfecting task in one of the kitchens. Thank you all for bringing a delicious Family Breakfast, and most of all, for bringing your love and caring to Family House!

See photos from Buster and Kristen's visit at https://www.facebook.com/148667470276/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10157986147025277

Time Lapse Construction of the Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House

The last time lapse video of the construction of the Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House - our home away from home in Mission Bay is finally complete, with the installation of the orange metal screens on the front of the building. Hooray!

Volunteer Spotlight: Linda & Steve Hawkins

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 Linda and Steve Hawkins. Linda and Steve have become weekly volunteers at Family House by helping in our new administrative office in Mission Bay.

Both have been working closely with staffers on various projects. Linda has helped reach out to our new Mission Bay neighbors to introduce Family House, as well as format descriptions for volunteer positions in our new home. Steve has been helping with the image archive project – processing and organizing 30 years’ worth of photos that other volunteers recently digitized. He’s been incredibly helpful – applying logic and care to the project so that we can use this imagery for our 35th Annual Gala and for years to come!

Thank you so much to Linda and Steve for your dedication to the families staying at Family House. Your help with events, administrative tasks, and overall positive demeanor enable Family House to continue to provide the services we offer!

We are so lucky to have such amazing community support!

Family House Family Stories: Cailean Sterling, Brain Tumor Survivor

Watch the latest Family House Family Stories video: Cailean Sterling, Brain Tumor Survivor

Volunteer at Family House

Have you ever considered volunteering at Family House? This video explains why volunteers make a difference in our community, what opportunities exist, and what is involved in signing up to volunteer at Family House. Learn more at familyhouseinc.org/volunteer

Buster Posey Meet & Greet

Thank you to our friends at the San Francisco Giants for arranging an awesome meet and greet with Buster Posey at AT&T Park! Families got to spend some time with Buster and Kristen asking questions, signing autographs, and taking pictures, and then got to see the walk off win against the Phillies in incredible third baseline seats! So cool!

Misty Moonlight Therapy Dog Visit

Thank you to James Schaffner and Misty Moonlight from 4PAWS for being our first Therapy Dog volunteers at the new Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House! James had this to say about their visit:

“With people and even a grassy patio area with bees in the flowers outside of the 2nd floor, there are 45 families already in residence. Julian and Oscar weren't too sure about Misty at first, but she won them over very quickly. It only took a couple Misty cards and some tricks. Shiloh and Misty were best friends instantly. Misty showed Shiloh how to roll over for a treat. Shiloh rolled over like Misty, but declined the treat. I told Shiloh that I wanted to teach Misty how to do a summersault but, since I couldn't do one, I couldn't show Misty how. I asked her if she could show Misty how to do a summersault - she did a couple and then asked Misty to do one. Misty just stared at Shiloh like she was from outer space.  As Yogi Berra once said, ‘You can observe a lot just by watching.’”

SF Giants’ Jeremy Affeldt Visits Family House

Thank you to SF Giants pitcher Jeremy Affeldt and members of the Giants staff for visiting Family House today! You signed autographs and played wiffle ball with the kids, and everyone had a fantastic time - the sun even came out for our impromptu ball game! See more photos at https://www.facebook.com/148667470276/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10156869128200277