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!

Canine Companions for Independence Volunteers

Canine Companions for Independence is a nonprofit that raises and trains service dogs to accompany individuals who need them. Part of that training is a socialization process for the puppies, which includes exposing them to many different environments, including meeting new people and being in large crowds. CCI volunteers and their puppies have been volunteering at Family House for several months, and volunteer Scott Hartman shared his story with us:


I am a symphony musician and a dog lover!  I do a lot of volunteer work mainly with non-profit musical and educational organizations. The first few weeks of raising a CCI puppy can be tough, as an 8 week old puppy is a baby and you lose a lot of sleep at first, but I love it. You make a lot of friends and see a lot of strangers smiling when you walk around with a dog. Imagine walking around with a cute puppy with a cape!

Our first puppy was Wakari, eight weeks old - raising her was incredible! I've had dogs for decades, but never one so trainable, so gentle. She went everywhere with us - museums, nice restaurants, the emergency room, every trip we went on, and to many Giants games. After she graduated from the CCI program, she was sent to meet her new, permanent owner, through a children’s hospital in Washington state.

Clarence III was our next puppy - a huge puppy with the sweetest spirit. At Clarence’s graduation ceremony, we met his future family, which included a 15-year-old boy with autism and Down Syndrome who had never had a friend. Whatever fun I’d had with Clarence was nothing compared to what he was going to do for my new friend Riley!

At first, I thought being a CCI volunteer Puppy Raiser was all about me and the joy I got from having a puppy (which is considerable), but after seeing how the puppies improve people’s lives, I realize that I am a tiny part of it. The real joy is realizing how much happiness and freedom the puppies give other people. The rewards greatly outweigh the time and effort put into it, and the time and efforts are joy in themselves.

Canine Companions for Independence is a great organization - every contact and experience we have had with CCI has been top notch, from the people at their incredible facility in Santa Rosa to the trainer we work with locally. There is a great deal of help and support from other raisers and the CCI community. I spent only a few hours at Family House but I could tell from the minute I walked in that it was full of caring individuals and the atmosphere was professional but very human and warm.

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.’”

4Paws Therapy Dogs at Family House

4Paws Therapy Dogs at Family House by Misty Moonlight

“I’m Misty Moonlight, one of four 4PAWS therapy dogs that visit Family House. The others are Jonny Jusice, Ollie, and Fozzy.

“We dogs meet a wide range of Family House residents, from 4 year olds to young adults, and all seem very upbeat. I don’t know if it’s the result of the atmosphere at Family House, or the presence of us cheerful dogs - probably some of each! During a recent visit, I met a boy about 7 years old and his younger sister. They didn’t have pets at home, so I was a novelty for them. The boy liked me right away, but his little sister was afraid and wouldn’t even touch me! After a while, James (my person) showed the girl how to use the brush so that she could join her brother, without touching me. Soon, she was petting me just like her brother. When we were getting ready to leave, she gave me a hug! James asked her if she would like to have a dog of her own at home. She thought about it, and said, ‘No, a cat.’ Maybe I should learn to purr!

“Another one of my favorite activities is visiting the campers at Enchanted Hills Camp for the Blind. A young lady who was a member of the staff pointed at the Family House patch on my 4PAWS vest and asked about it. She said that she had spent so much time there during treatments that she felt like that’s where she grew up. She is now a ‘Guardian Angel,’ helping the blind campers safely enjoy all of the activities available to them. Another successful alumni with fond memories of Family House.

“Enjoy the sunshine, but pray for rain,

-Misty Moonlight”

Learn more about 4PAWS Therapy Dogs (4pawscenter.org), or about volunteering at Family House (familyhouseinc.org/volunteer.html)

Family House Family Stories: Frankie's Family

Watch the most recent Family House Family Stories video, Frankie's Family.

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