Staff Spotlight: Alexandra Morgan

Name:
Alexandra Morgan

Where did you grow up?
San Francisco      

Position at Family House:
CEO

Reason for working at Family House:
Love

Favorite thing to do in San Francisco:
Go to Golden Gate Park

What makes you special?
Family House does!

What’s the story behind the photo?
Photo taken by Kate Nagle, a very talented photographer and Family House mom!

Volunteer Spotlight: Anne Finigan

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

Staff Spotlight: Monica Rodriguez

Name: Monica Rodriguez

Where did you grow up? Born in San Jose, Costa Rica and moved to Oakdale, California when I was 3 years old. Grew up in Oakdale, and moved to San Francisco when I started college at San Francisco State.

Position at Family House: Hospitality Service Coordinator

Reason for working at Family House: I have a passion for helping others and being a support system to anyone who is going through a rough time. I have a big heart and want to spread love in any way I can!

Favorite thing to do in San Francisco:  Catch a Giants game and eat lots of Ghirardelli chocolate.

What makes you special? I’ve got red lips, a heart of gold, and deep love of Hispanic cuisine!

1 Second Every Day

We put together this fun video using the 1 Second Every Day app - it's a great glimpse into the wonderful craziness that is Family House! Thank you all for an incredible year!

One Stitch at a Time

Nona Walton lives in Novato, but her heart is in San Francisco.

“My sister stayed at Family House in the late 1980’s when her daughter was undergoing treatment for a brain tumor at UCSF. I saw how well-cared-for they were, and wanted to find my own way to give back to those less fortunate.” In honor of her niece, Nona has sewn countless beautiful quilts for 18 years and donated them to children’s cancer organizations, including Family House, the San Francisco Ronald McDonald House, and The Doll Project at Lucille Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford.

“It takes about 15-20 hours to make each quilt, and I just love it. I have been sewing since I was nine years old - my sister and I got a $10 a month clothing allowance (mind you that was in the late 50's!) but my mom said if we made our clothes, she would pay for everything. That's when my passion began. I have done many other crafts (beading, crochet, knitting, weaving), but my main hobby is sewing. It’s what I like to do to relax when I come home from work.”

During the day, Nona works in the finance department of a retirement community in Marin County. She loves to spend time her son and his family in San Francisco; she is part of a hiking group; volunteers at the Marin Food Bank; gardens; does yoga; and of course, loves to play with her dog. She’s donated nearly 70 quilts to Family House families, and each one represents comfort and caring in the special way that only a blanket made with love can. “It’s so important so share with families in need, and I just want to ‘give back’ to kids who are not as fortunate as my two sons were.”

Thank you, Nona, for sharing your talents and love with our families!

Learn more about how you can get involved with Family House: http://www.familyhouseinc.org/volunteer.html

European Sleepworks Donates to Family House

Thank you to the extreme generosity of European Sleepworks - they’re donating ALL of the beds for the Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House!

https://sleepworks.com/blog/2015/06/17/sleep-works-delivers-great-beds-for-a-great-cause/

Johansen Family Homecoming

We love you, Johansen family! We’re so glad that little Savannah finally gets to go home! Check out this beautiful photo documentation of a family with a little girl who spent the first few months of her life at Family House, and finally got to see her house for the first time:

See all of the photos at:
 https://www.facebook.com/jenni.tellers/media_set?set=a.10152825780151369.1073741844.583171368&type=1

Volunteer Spotlight: Joey Jordan

Family House has a strong and mutually beneficial relationship with the University of San Francisco. We have had a number of volunteers come to volunteer each semester through Service-Learning classes, as well as community clubs on campus.     For the first time, Family House has its own ACE student for the 2014-2015 school year. ACE stands for Advocates for Community Engagement, and is focused on “developing socially responsible, civically-engaged student leaders who facilitate quality service-learning experiences for all stakeholders and advocate for the common good of the community” per the USF ACE website. During the 2012-2013 school year, ACEs managed and led reflective activities for over 200 service-learning students.

Family House’s amazing ACE student, Joey Jordan, will be working with 14 USF students this semester, as well as providing his own service hours to help Family House at events, manage volunteers, and even TEACH Zumba lessons to the families. Joey is very inspired by Family House and is excited to support in any way he can.

He was drawn to Family House as he can understand how hard it is for a family going through treatments when they are so far from their own families.
       
When Joey is not volunteering or working on school work, he enjoys running in Golden Gate Park, spending time admiring the scenery, as well as volunteering at various non-profits including Project Open Hand, St. Vincent de Paul, and Raphael House.

Thank you Joey for all of your help this year at Family House!

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

Staff Spotlight: Paul Goold

Interview with Paul Goold, Director of Operations

How did you come to be at Family House?

My wife, Megan, was the Resident Manager here at Family House and that was in September of 1997 or 1998. Then in 2001 I became a Weekend Manager. And in 2002 I became the Resident Manager.

How has Family House changed since you first started?

When I first started, Megan and I were living in the manager’s unit at the 50 Irving Street house – we had only 10 bedrooms available for families, and at the time, this was the only building Family House had to work with. It was light and lean; a wonderful small nonprofit serving families primarily in the oncology department. We had three rooms for patients receiving chemotherapy, three rooms for bone marrow transplant patients, and three rooms for radiation patients. There was an unfortunate limitation of families served due to our limited resources. Then in 2002, when we opened the new house on 10^th and Irving, we were able to help house the entire out-of-town pediatric oncology patient population. We went from ten rooms to thirty-four rooms, and that was very exciting!  

What are some of your favorite Family House memories?

Definitely giving guitar lessons to kids, singing songs with the kids, and Christmases are definitely a highlight. I will always remember being Santa Claus on Christmas Eve - putting presents outside families’ doors and giving them just a little jolt of good Christmas cheer while they are all so far away from home. Nothing is as satisfying as being able to give these families a little bit of happiness while they are going through such a difficult time in life.

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

Family Stories: Marisa's Story

Watch the latest Family House Family Stories video, featuring the parents of Marisa Shelton, an adorable little girl (and also the poster child for our friends at Giving Comfort):

 

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

Calling All Angels: The Future Nancy & Stephen Grand Family House

Family House Board Chair shows off the future site of the new Nancy & Stephen Grand Family House at Mission Bay:

You can still contribute to the campaign and help us meet our goal!  http://indiegogo.com/projects/calling-all-angels

Thank you for all of your support to help make this new building a reality! Together, we can build it and ensure that all families have a place to stay while their child is undergoing life-saving treatment in San Francisco!

Volunteer Spotlight: Cris Cohen & Jonny Justice

Volunteers of all sorts help at Family House, from weekly volunteers, to those that make dinner for families, to those that host arts & crafts and other activities. Particularly special volunteers are our Therapy Dogs & their people. These (human) volunteers bring their certified therapy dogs once a month for a couple of hours to bond with families going through crisis. Therapy dogs offer extremely valuable positive interactions - not only good to relieve stresses of the mind, but also to improve negative health conditions.

One of our favorite therapy dogs-people-combos is Jonny Justice & his person, Cris Cohen. Cris first heard about Family House through 4Paws for Healing about 2 years ago. Since then, Jonny has become quite a celebrity - winning a Gund contest to have a stuffed animal made in his likeness. Cris absolutely adores Family House and even donated the stuffed animals to the families.

When Cris is not volunteering at Family House, he works full time for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and also supports Bad Rap, an organization in Oakland that rehabilitates  and finds homes for homeless Pit Bulls.

Cris, you provide so much joy and laughter to families at Family House through Jonny’s amazing and adorable tricks! We are so lucky to have such a great friend and Family House advocate!

Thank you so much for your support of Family House!

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

Volunteer Spotlight: Monique Ngo

Monique Ngo is a very special  Volunteer Leader at Family House. She herself knows firsthand what families experience, as she was front and center during her mother’s own battle with life-threatening illnesses. Monique was unsure if she could emotionally handle being a volunteer, “When I first read that the Family House is for families whose children are receiving treatment for cancer and other serious illnesses, I was hesitant. I was hesitant because for almost half my life my mom was seriously ill with first kidney failure, then cancer. So I was hesitant because I didn't know if I would be able to mentally handle seeing more suffering.” This is something that volunteers sometimes experience.

Monique overcame her reservations of volunteering at Family House when she thought, “If I were to volunteer here, I could help people that face the same difficulties as me. That thought motivated me and in a way gave me some strength to want to volunteer at Family House."

Monique has been an amazing asset to Family House as she helps out our business office with fundraising projects and assisting families in navigating San Francisco. Monique’s dedication to Family House has made for some special moments with the families and she even spent her 21st birthday volunteering at Family House! Thank you so much Monique, we adore you!

Get involved with Family House! Learn more at 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.”

Follow us on Facebook to see the latest on some of our amazing families:  http://facebook.com/FamilyHouseSanFrancisco

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

Sign up for our newsletters to stay in the loop on all Family House news: http://www.familyhouseinc.org/newsletters.html#newsletterform

Family House Staff Spotlight: Jeanine Homich

Interview with Jeanine Homich, Administrative Coordinator

How did you come to be at Family House?
One of my closest friends (Susan Neff) started working here in November 2006, and I remember thinking, "Great, our kids are graduating high school and she found this new place, and I'll have a new place to volunteer!"  At that time, Susan and I were volunteering 20 hours a week at our sons' school, Marin Catholic High School, and I remember thinking that I could put my hard work into something new and wonderful. I think my first volunteer experience was a holiday dinner - the Monday before Thanksgiving or the Monday before Christmas.

In 2010, I became a contractor to work on Quickbooks one day a week. In 2011, I was working two days a week, and have been working three days a week since 2012.


How has Family House changed since you first started?
For me, since I'm not coming in so "casually," the work I'm doing is more serious, having more of an impact.  For the organization, it feels like we're getting bigger, with the upcoming move to Mission Bay. It hasn't really changed that much, but it's more developed - more grown up, maybe.


What are some of your favorite Family House memories?At events, I really enjoy dancing with the kids; or day-to-day interactions at the House like laughing about something with a fellow staff member or going to lunch together. It's all about enjoying the quiet moments with coworkers or a family. It's not just one thing. Last year, I really enjoyed going to dinner with the Monickens in Sausalito and having sushi - that was really, really nice.

Seeing beautiful children come back well with happy moms, just paying us a visit, years later… And reading some really beautiful letters from people who stayed here in the 80's and 90's, and just give us an update on how they're doing.  In my job, I take donations through the mail and send thank-you letters, and see a lot of notes from families that are doing well now. We got one from a patient who stayed here in the 80's, and now he's all grown up and is working as a researcher at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab. He sent a donation and a note to say that everything's great, and he just wanted to give back.  I'll never forget reading that letter.  It's very inspirational, reading letters like those - I love that! I love to see the children that we've helped all grown up.  You can just tell by the way they write that their hearts are just a little bigger.  They're changed, but in a really positive way - you can just tell.

At Family House, you just know that what you're doing makes a difference to people. I guess I love that the most.

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

Maddie’s Journey, by Jenny DeHart

My daughter, Madison, was 13 when she was diagnosed with cancer.  It was June of 2011 and I took  3 of my children to the doctor to get their Whooping Cough vaccination.  While we were there and after the Dr. left the room, I asked the nurse if it was ok for Maddie to have the shot if she had whooping cough already.  When she went out to ask the Dr. he advised us to go to the ER before having the vaccination just in case.  I waited a few hours and we went after dinner, around 7:30 that night.  After 2 hours and chest x-rays, we found out that Maddie had a massive tumor in her chest behind her right lung, and as it grew it was pushing on her lungs and causing the cough.  We knew within two weeks that the tumor was cancerous, and so our journey began.

On August 5, 2011, Maddie had what we refer to as her "big surgery".  It was a scary day for me, as things drastically changed the day before when we went for her pre-op appointment.  At first I had been told that they would be removing the tumor from her side, under her arm, and no scar would show, and that they were allowing 5 hours for her surgery.  During the pre-op, I was informed that the surgery now was scheduled for the whole day, and that the tumor was wrapped around the arteries to her head and right arm, as well as the nerves to her diaphragm and vocal chords.  They also let me know that they would be opening up her chest to get it out.   I was horrified and they went further in telling me that if they removed the whole tumor, they would have to remove her right arm and she would not have a voice anymore.   I didn't have time to process any of this at all, she was going in the very next day.

About four hours into the surgery, the Dr. called me in the waiting room and told me that the MRI was wrong and the tumor was NOT wrapped around all those important arteries and nerves!!  That was our first miracle.  When I saw my sweet Maddie 6 hours later, she was in ICU with every tube imaginable connected to her, but I saw her right arm, and about 20 minutes later I heard her sweet voice, and I knew that she was going to be ok.

Eight days later, when she was discharged from the hospital, and we began our two hour drive home to Turlock, California.  We were an hour and half away from home, and I received a phone call from her oncologist at UCSF with more devastating news.  The pathology report had come back on the tumor and it showed a very aggressive cancer which indicated that Maddie would need to have chemo and radiation.  They gave her a "small" break after her "big surgery" of one month, before she had surgery to insert a port into her chest, and she began chemo that same day, September 6, 2011.

This is when our second miracle occurred.  We were referred to Family House and they became our second home for the next 6 months.  I say "they" because the people of family house made us feel as though we were home.  The first person we met was Kara.  She did our orientation and had nothing but a smile on her face the whole time!!  She was our first contact in our "new home".  Subsequently, meeting everyone else, John, Joe, Greg, Amy and now Karen,  was amazing!!  Family House became our home, and the people who work there, and the families that stay there are who made that happen.

We needed that miracle because Maddie and I were separated from the other children for the majority of 6 months.  It was very difficult on our our little family.  The staff was so consistent through support, from activities for Maddie, everything they provided in the house, and even just basic conversations, or simple smiles and hugs that helped us get through our day.  They were always encouraging us and always there for us when we needed them the most!  They MADE Family House a home for us, not just a house.

Our third miracle came when the Doctor declared that Maddie was cancer free on February 13, 2012.  She then had her port removed on Valentine's Day.   The only thing that was bittersweet about that news, was that we had to go to our real home.  Of course we WANTED to go home, to reunite with the other kids, but leaving Family House was so hard.  They were by our side through the darkest time in our lives and we had to leave them.

Next week it will be 2 years since Madison was declared "Cancer Free".  She is 15 years old now and thriving in school, actually in all aspects of her life.  We have been given the opportunity to be able to stay at Family House periodically over the past two years for her check ups that will continue for 3 more years, regularly.  It feels good when we get to "go home", and know that we will be welcomed and loved by all our "family" there.

Follow us on Facebook to see the latest on some of our amazing families:  http://facebook.com/FamilyHouseSanFrancisco

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

Sign up for our newsletters to stay in the loop on all Family House news: http://www.familyhouseinc.org/newsletters.html#newsletterform 

A Cancer Survivor Looks Back

What would you do if you found out your 5-year-old had cancer?

In February of 2000, Matt and Mary Ferrick noticed their son was limping, and they did what any parent would do - they brought him to the doctor. Scans revealed that a previously-undetected tumor in his stomach had now spread to his hip. Jay was rushed 100 miles from their home in Ukiah to UCSF to be treated for stage 4 neuroblastoma. Pulled out of kindergarten, he was admitted to the hospital, and his family stayed at Family House on and off for 14 months while he underwent chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, and a stem cell transplant.

"One thing I remember about the Family House is that I always looked forward to going.  Especially I remember because there were video games in the downstairs living room, and me and my little brother looked forward to playing video games because we didn't have them at home," recalls Jay, now 19 years old and a healthy sophomore at Chico State.

"Jay is doing very well, he lives a normal life, and is able to do everything that everybody else does.  He's been 12-13 years in remission now.  Of the type of cancer he had, 70% of the kids relapse, but Jay has been healthy since he completed his treatment. It's been a blessing to put it in the rear view mirror," says his father, Matt.

"Family House provided support for the whole family…  [For Jay's younger brother, Thomas,] having a sibling who's getting all the attention - some people really struggle with that, feeling they're in the background…. we've always tried to make them feel equal." Playing Nintendo in the Family House living room was a highlight for both boys. "[Thomas] thought it was a big thrill to go to San Francisco and see his big brother;" at only 3 years old at the time, he couldn't comprehend the seriousness of the situation, Matt recalls.

Jay's oncologist, Dr. Katherine Matthay, says that "Neuroblastoma is a very, very serious cancer that we find only in young children. More than 50% of children already have the cancer spread to their bones and their bone marrow at the time the cancer is detected." At the time of Jay's diagnosis and treatment, fewer than 15% of children survived metastatic neuroblastoma.

Dick and Anne Grace of Grace Family Vineyards are longtime Family House supporters, and have even awarded a grant to Dr. Matthay for cancer research. The targeted radiotherapy treatment that was developed from that grant is now one of the most active treatments for widespread and resistant neuroblastoma.  Dick says, "Annie and I had the extraordinary privilege of walking a portion of Jay's cure path alongside both he and his family, and it was there that we got the opportunity to see the courage and see the commitment and the resolve that he had in navigating this path."

Looking back, Jay hopes that his battle with cancer will be an inspiration to others who are currently undergoing treatment. "When we go to UCSF, we visit '7 Long,' the floor I was on, and I see all the kids there, and I hope that they see how I am, and hope that they can be cured and be a regular kid like me."

We are delighted that the Ferricks continue to be part of the Family House family!

Follow us on Facebook to see the latest on some of our amazing families:  http://facebook.com/FamilyHouseSanFrancisco

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

Sign up for our newsletters to stay in the loop on all Family House news: http://www.familyhouseinc.org/newsletter.shtml#newsletterform

Gratitude

A personal note from Joey Kotfica, Social Media Coordinator:

I'm still "the new girl" at Family House - I've only been on staff since February 2013.  I've grown so much this year - sharing the joys and sorrows of the families who stay here. Our offices are in the same building, and so, we will have morning coffee with parents, or take a little foosball break in the living room with some of the kids in the afternoon. I've gotten to know and admire so many people who pass through our doors: the families for their strength; the patients for their courage and optimism; the volunteers and donors for their generosity of time, talent, and treasure; and my amazingly compassionate co-workers.

The air these last few weeks here at Family House has been a little different - more energized. The phones and doorbells are ringing, we're getting emails, cards, and social media messages from so many people wanting to know how they can help.  We're getting messages of gratitude from our families in every form possible. Last week, a young couple who have been staying at Family House regularly all year came downstairs, and as one of them started to say thank you for the services we provide, she started crying, unable to speak her words of thanks. (So of course, I started crying with her.)

I've known for years what a special place Family House is, but it hasn't been until this year that I've been able to truly appreciate all of the love (really, just so much love) within our little family.  Thank you all for sharing that with me, and with each other.

Happy holidays to each of you, and best wishes for a healthy 2014.

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

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