Volunteer Spotlight: Anne Finigan

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

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!

Family House Family Stories: Cailean Sterling, Brain Tumor Survivor

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

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.’”

Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House Construction Time Lapse

Watch the latest Time Lapse video of the construction of the Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House at Mission Bay! #futureoffamilyhouse

38 Rooms!

As we ramp up service at the new Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House, today we are housing 38 families. It’s not the full 80 rooms yet, but it is more families than we have ever served at once - what a great milestone!

Goodbye Inner Sunset, Hello Mission Bay!

 Bittersweet goodbye! We've said goodbye to the original Family House locations in the Inner Sunset as we move to our brand new Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House in Mission Bay. The new building is going to be such a wonderful improvement for our families, but we've heard from plenty of people that our original buildings will always feel like a "home away from home" in San Francisco. We hope that the new building will feel that way very quickly, too, and we feel good that all of the lovely touches to make the new building a comfortable space will indeed be great for our families.

A Letter from CEO Alexandra Morgan - We're Moving!

We are so excited to open new doors of compassion in Mission Bay – serving 80 families per night with the same compassionate community that has been the Family House hallmark since 1981.

The new Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House boasts features long requested by families, and was designed from the ground up with families in mind. The new LEED-Platinum Certified Family House has a 9,200 square foot outdoor meditation courtyard, fitness center, teen room, comfortable communal living and dining facilities, laundry, parking, and much more. Brand new beds were fabricated and so generously donated by European SleepWorks; play space furniture was a fabulous gift of Pottery Barn Teen and Pottery Barn Kids; all furnishings for the new house were selected for the comfort of our families to create the feeling of a home away from home.

It costs $90 to house a family for a night; the average length of stay for a Family House family can range from 5 weeks to 6 months or more. Please consider making a donation to help families of children with life-threatening illnesses. Without Family House, many of these families would not be able to receive life-saving treatment at UCSF. Your donation means a great deal to families who most need our help.

I hope you will consider joining over 2,000 volunteers annually who give generously of their time – it is the best gift you can give. Please visit http://familyhouseinc.org/volunteer.html to learn more.

Thank you, all, for making The Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House a place of care, compassion, and community!

Ann's Story - The Early Years of Family House

Family House Family Stories: Sharing the brave and inspiring stories of families of children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. This story features Ann Adamson Leonardo, mother to John Leonardo, who was treated by Dr. Art Ablin at the UCSF Children's Hospital in San Francisco. Inspired by what she saw during the time of her son's treatment, Ann and her husband, joined Art and Debbie Ablin, and others, to help found Family House.

Family House is Hiring!

Family House is hiring! If you are interested in joining our family, we currently have open positions for Family Services Coordinator (part time) and Director of Development. Click here to learn more: http://www.familyhouseinc.org/open-positions.html

Opening New Doors of Compassion

Watch our latest video: Opening New Doors of Compassion

Virtual Tour of the Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House

Check out this new Virtual Tour of the Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House

Grand Family House Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting, remarks by Dr. Arthur Ablin, March 2, 2016

Co-founder Dr. Arthur Ablin's remarks at the Grand Opening of the Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House at Mission Bay on March 2, 2016

Please look around and recognize that in just a few days these spaces will be filled by all children with life threatening diseases who are too ill to be cared for in their local communities and who live more than 50 miles from San Francisco. There will be their mothers, fathers, and siblings and grandparents. There will be dedicated staff, social workers, teachers, child life specialists and many volunteers. We are large enough now to care for not just children with cancer but for all children coming to the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital for treatment.

Family House was not an accident. Family House was born out of necessity.

It is a fact that children with rare, serious, life threatening illness must often travel far from home to advanced medical centers to receive life saving treatment that often lasts weeks or months. There is no other choice. Of course, seriously ill children need family members near during times of multiple painful frightening procedures, surgery, and transplantation. Mothers, fathers, siblings and grandparents need to be near their children during these almost unbearable anxiety laden times. Multiple family members need a place to stay. Before Family House, parents slept on floor mats when available alongside cribs and beds, or in waiting room chairs, cars parked in garages, or on the street.

Family House is born out of necessity because parents of children from newborns to adolescence are in their 20s or 30s when they are struggling to meet the demanding financial obligations that go with young families: home mortgages, washing machines. The expense of living for days, weeks, months on repeated occasions can be devastating, unbearable, humiliating and adds immeasurably to the worst of all crises, the possibility of lifelong serious illness or death of a child. Finding a place to live in a strange urban center is difficult and almost always prohibitively expensive. It is a fact there is no insurance that pays the costs for families to live far from their homes for days weeks or months.

Family House was born not only out of necessity but also born out of compassion. Before Family House existed, in the 60’s and 70’s, children with cancer and their families were facing unimaginable hardships. Not only were they shocked by the diagnosis, they were uprooted, often with little advance warning, forced to travel immediately to a new city and hospital, trust unfamiliar doctors and nurses. Living in a strange city removed them from the numerous home community supports we all too often take for granted like school, friends, classmates, religious affiliations and social groups. What families went through was unimaginable.

Family House was born out of compassion and fortunately it was all around.

Almost 35 years ago, I was lucky enough to gather people with great compassion; my wife Debbie, a few exceptionally capable parents of children with cancer, and others. Some are in this audience. John and Ann Leonardo, Barry Grove, Kathleen and Dan Toney, David Joy, Joan Finton, Joe Kushner, Mike Alvarez; still continuing with us after 35 years. Corporate help came from Koret, Bechtel, McKesson and others...

We opened in the fall of 1981, with every Board member active in operations. We started with 9 families of only children with cancer quickly went to 10 families. Knowing these were young, financially stressed families we required no payment. We were always full, always had a waiting list. We expanded with a second House with 24 more spaces so we now care for 34 families, approximately 105 people every night and we are still always full with a waiting list. We have raised our budget every one of the past 34 years. We have provided from our start much more than living space free of cost. We facilitate the opportunity for families in time of some of lives greatest crises to be mutually supportive. They can help each other in ways no others can. Our staff spends hours listening to heart-breaking stories. Compassion, empathy and understanding are our passwords. We provide ball park or museum passes, prepaid gasoline cards, replace bald auto tires, and provided an occasional dinner out for families in extra-ordinary stress.

There always was much more to do. We have dreamt to care for all families, not just families of children with cancer, but all families from outside San Francisco who must travel to our Hospital for medical care. Today starts the fulfillment of that dream. We have comfortable living accommodations for 80 families about 250 people. If you are a child with leukemia, a brain tumor, an infant with congenital heart disease, a pregnant mother with a fetus needing fetal surgery, a 2 pound prematurely born infant, a child with renal, pulmonary or hepatic failure needing a renal, lung or liver transplant if you live more than 50 miles from San Francisco, come to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital you and your family will be welcome at the Stephen and Nancy Grand Family House.

We will be supporting one of the best children’s hospitals in the country, dedicated and helping them to know that families who come from a distance, will find, like the hospital is, one of the finest, if not the very finest, living and supportive care facility for families in the country and free from financial hardship. Patient recruitment from around the country for research studies and teaching will be aided.
With the tireless work of an extraordinary Board, who purchased and oversaw development of this property, were our generous donors and raised more for a total of 42 million, together with an unusually dedicated staff today headed by our remarkable CEO Alexandra Morgan, marks the fulfillment of the dream to care for all families whose children need treatment at the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. Come walk through our fabulous House and partake with us, in this dream come true.

Thank You.




See more photos from the Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at http://www.familyhouseinc.org/past-events.html#grandopening

The San Francisco Chronicle profiles Family House

Wonderful article in The San Francisco Chronicle about the new Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House: http://m.sfgate.com/health/article/New-Family-House-unveiled-as-housing-for-young-6866723.php

Nancy & Stephen Grand Family House Construction Progress

The last of the scaffolding came down yesterday from the outside of the Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House at Mission Bay! The building isn't quite finished, but look at how far we've come from concept to reality!  Will we see you at our Grand Opening on March 2nd? RSVP at http://www.familyhouseinc.org/openhouse.html

Countdown to the Opening of the Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House

Countdown to the Grand Opening of the Nancy & Stephen Grand Family House - just 30 days until March 2nd! #futureoffamilyhouse #missionbay

RSVP to the Grand Opening Ceremonies on March 2, 2016: http://www.familyhouseinc.org/openhouse.html

Portraits of Family House: Nancy and Stephen Grand

The latest Portraits of Family House painting by Seamus Berkeley is complete! This painting features Family House benefactors Nancy and Stephen Grand, and will be displayed prominently in the new Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House at Mission Bay. Mark your calendar for the Grand Opening on March 2, 2016!


Learn more about the future of Family House at http://www.familyhouseinc.org/mission-bay.html

New Volunteer Opportunities: The Nancy & Stephen Grand Family House

As we look to the Grand Opening of the Nancy & Stephen Grand Family House at Mission Bay, we are excited about all the additional volunteer positions that we will need to fill to better serve our families.

Corporate Groups
Large groups of 50-70 people are needed to help us move into the new house at Mission Bay. Specific projects include setting up communal spaces (unpacking and organizing kitchen ware, setting up toys, games, and books in living rooms, etc.) and disinfecting surfaces before families move in. These projects will take place throughout February and March, and are extremely important!

After the move, we will continue to have volunteer opportunities for groups of up to 70 people for maintenance and disinfecting tasks, as well as event support at the house and at fundraisers.

Reception
The Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House will have a reception desk, and volunteers here will be the first point of contact for incoming families! We are looking for dedicated individuals who can volunteer for at least 4 hours per week, with a 6 month commitment. This will enable us to thoroughly train volunteers on all the situations which could arise, and also give some stability and a “familiar face” for our families.

Concierge
This volunteer position will work closely with clients, in tasks such as giving directions; signing out passes, tablets, and video games; and generally making sure that families have what they need. In such a large building, the Concierge volunteers will ensure that everyone feels safe and welcome at Family House. We are looking for dedicated individuals who can volunteer for at least 4 hours per week, with a 6 month commitment.

Family Meals
We are excited to expand our Family Dinner program to serve dinners 7 nights a week for all 80 families! Volunteer groups can bring pre-made meals to Family House, or bring groceries and cook the meal on site. This is an excellent way to get to know families, and strengthen the Family House community. The meal program is great way to make a big impact with a single visit. Groups can come just one time, or can schedule a regular meal that is weekly, monthly, or quarterly.  Later in the year, we will look to expand the program to regular breakfast meals as well.

Food Drives
Community food drives are a key supplement to families who are able to cook at Family House.  We are always in need of non-perishable shelf-stable (non-refrigerated) food items including: canned food, rice, mac and cheese, top ramen, sugar, flour, salt, pepper, granola bars, breakfast bars, juice boxes, and kids snacks. A food drive is a great way to get your school, church, or community group involved with Family House!

Need more ideas? Contact Director of Volunteer Programs Karen Banks at kbanks@familyhouseinc.org or (415) 514-6663 for more information or to sign up for a new volunteer shift at the Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House at Mission Bay.

Family House Family Stories: Sarah's Story

Watch the latest Family House Family Stories Video: Sarah’s Story, and learn how you can help cancer fighters like Sarah: http://www.familyhouseinc.org/donate.html

Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House Construction Time Lapse

Watch the latest Time Lapse video of the construction of the Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House! Learn more about the project at http://www.familyhouseinc.org/mission-bay.html