Family Stories: Tinae Sterling

Family House Family Stories: Meet Tinae Sterling, a Family House mother of a brain tumor survivor

Volunteer Spotlight: Danielle Sly

Danielle Sly first heard about Family House through a flyer posted at a local children’s shop, Chloe’s Closet, that donates children’s clothes to Family House. Danielle lives in the neighborhood and wanted to give back to a local organization after leaving the corporate world to raise 3 kids of her own.  She says about the community, “We are Inner Sunset residents and have a fondness for UCSF, as all of our children were born there. Our closest family member in the city is a nurse there. We plan on making this our home for the long term and helping an organization with such a wonderful mission would be mutually beneficial.”

Danielle’s help in the business office is invaluable – taking care of data cleanup tasks for our end-of-year mailings, silent Auction items for events, and even helping with our Capital Campaign. She has had many different volunteer experiences, from volunteering at United Cerebral Palsy, to helping teachers while in high school, to working in a Women’s Soup Kitchen in Boston during her college years. She has also read to students at low income schools during their lunch hour, and volunteers once per month at the SF Food Bank with her 6 year old son.  

When Danielle has free time she likes to  run, hike, bike and explore San Francisco with her kids and husband.

Thank you Danielle for all of your help at Family House!

To learn more about volunteering at Family House, visit http://www.familyhouseinc.org/volunteer.html

All Star Followup: Max Meierotto

Max and his parents first stayed at Family House for 3 months in 2011. They had come to San Francisco all the way from Vienna, Austria, so he could take part in a clinical trial for the treatment of Pelizaeus Merzbacher Disease, a very rare condition where the myelin sheath around Max’s brain deteriorates, causing significant motor function issues.

His mom, Stefanie, says of the clinical trial, “We were very, very happy about it, but of course we didn’t have a place to stay - and then Family House came in and gave us a bed.  There were very nice people to talk to and hang out with there. It was a place to just be home.”

Once a year for the next few years, Max returns to UCSF for checkups, including an EEG, an SSEP, an MRI, and all kinds of blood tests. “He’s 8 years old, and he’s having good progress with everything - it’s what we wish for.”

 When he comes to San Francisco now, he’s now longer the baby of the family. Stefanie recalls, “Last year in June, we had twin girls, healthy twin girls, and I’m not bored anymore. (Not that I was bored before, but now I learned what it means to be extremely busy!) They’re a big joy.

“In the beginning, it was a little bit hard for Max, because he was our prince for 8 years, and he had to learn to accept that there are other people that Mommy has to help with.  But he’s getting much, much better. Since the girls are getting older, and moving around more, he thinks this is hilarious, and enjoys them now quite a bit. It’s good for him - he’s learned a lot.”

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Introducing Family Stories Videos

Introducing Family House Family Stories - videos that feature the brave and inspiring stories of families of children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.  Watch the first Family Stories video - Nino's Story:

http://www.familyhouseinc.org/family-stories.html