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!

Family House Impact

Just released! Read the Fiscal Year 2018 Annual Report - Family House Impact:

http://e.issuu.com/embed.html#31716150/70050357

May is Mental Health Month

May is Mental Health Month by Elan Slavin, MSW

May is here and change is all around us.  The weather is beginning to feel more like Spring, the wild flowers are bold and bright and the school year for some is beginning to wind down.  May is also Mental Health Awareness month.  This month (and hopefully year ‘round) we can continue to increase awareness about all of our mental health needs as individuals and as a country.

The following three websites are resources for various kinds of important information and help when it comes to our own mental health and those we love.  Please note: as always, if you are concerned about yourself or someone you love, please reach out to your doctor or a mental health clinician.

www.thenationalcouncil.org
www.nami.org
www.adaa.org

May is here and change is all around us.  I think the poet, Mary Oliver expresses a depth of gratitude for change and new beginnings in a most elegant way.

Why I Wake Early, by Mary Oliver

 

Hello, sun in my face

Hello, you who make the morning.

And spread it over the fields

And into the faces of the tulips

And the nodding morning glories,

And into the windows of, even, the

Miserable and crotchety-

 

Best preacher that ever was-

Dear star, that just happens

To be where you are in the universe

To keep us from ever-darkness,

To ease us with warm touching,

To hold us in the great hands of light-

Good morning, good morning, good morning

 

Watch, now, how I start the day

In happiness, in kindness

Taking a moment to acknowledge your need for help is the ultimate act of kindness we can give to ourselves.

Spider-Man and Spider Gwen Visit

Thank you to Spider-Man and Spider-Gwen from Heart of a Hero for spending a morning at Family House! You brought wagons full of toys for the kids and made lots of new friends! And thank you to the volunteers from Compass for helping to pass out toys, make Spidey-themed arts and crafts, and kick off a fun morning for everyone! Thank you to the volunteers for bringing such positive energy and joy to Family House, making everyone smile!!

Click here to see photos of the event.

Easter Party 2019

Thank you to everyone who helped make this year’s Easter Party so much fun: Bobby the Bunny and friends, Salesforce, the San Francisco Police Department, BayKids Studios, community volunteers, and donors! It takes everyone’s support to put on fun holiday parties like this, so Family House families can relax and enjoy a bit of home while they stay here in San Francisco, and we are grateful to each of you!

See Easter Party photos at https://www.facebook.com/pg/FamilyHouseSanFrancisco/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10161549791340277

National Volunteer Week 2019

To the amazing volunteers at Family House!

I want to take this moment to say thank you for all that you do for our families. With this week being National Volunteer Week, I want to reflect on how meaningful your service is, day in and day out. There are never enough hours in the day, but you, our volunteers, are able to donate your time and efforts to support families in crisis. Whether it's helping serve breakfast each morning; bringing your therapy dog for support; keeping the house disinfected; providing a beautiful family dinner; and everything in between, we absolutely could not provide the level of support that we do without our incredible volunteers.

Last year, we had over 4,200 volunteers support Family House (that is a staff-to-volunteer ratio of 1:140) and the impact is measured not just in numbers, but through the magic and love that is felt every day when you walk through the doors. We know there so many amazing nonprofits out there and you choose to help us. We are incredibly grateful for the love and support you bring to Family House. Thank you on behalf of Family House.

With Love and Appreciation,
Karen Banks

Spring Has Sprung... Kind of!

Spring Has Sprung... Kind of!
by Elan Slavin, MSW

As we head into April, we’re experiencing a few more precious moments of sunshine than last month.  Our California reservoirs are filled to the brim, but the rain keeps coming. Here are a few suggestions of how to take advantage of the few moments of sunshine.

Maybe start your own veggie garden or plant a few flowers to tend to.  It doesn’t have to be much.  It might be fun to take care of them and watch them grow!

Take a walk or a stroll around your neighborhood.  Take notice of how all of the recent rain has made everything so green!!!

And when the rain just won’t stop:

It might be time to let go of some of our well-used and well-loved items and do some [more] spring cleaning. Sometimes it’s more difficult for parents than kids to go through well-loved clothes that no longer fit or toys that no longer are age appropriate and say goodbye. Spring cleaning is a wonderful time to also model for our kids how to “pay it forward.”

 

A suggestion: Meet your child in their space like a bedroom, or wherever your child keeps his or her things. Go through each piece of clothing or each toy with your child.  Together, offer that item a hug of gratitude for bringing them comfort, joy, and wonderful memories and decide to donate! Maybe suggest to your child the idea that perhaps someone they know or someone they don’t know could use something THEY loved and used.  You can explain that “paying it forward” would mean giving away something that meant something to you might benefit someone else. Again, letting go is hard, but what a great opportunity to model compassion.

April Rain Song by Langston Hughes

 

Let the rain kiss you

Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops

Let the rain sing you a lullaby

 

The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk

The rain makes running pools in the gutter

The rain plays a little sleep-song on our roof at night-

 

And I love the rain