Post on 13-Mar-2016
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Courage comes when you least expect it.
On December 17th, 2013, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.
It was a little surreal. I didn’t really believe it until three
days later when I arrived in the basement area of Upstate Hos-
pital, known as the “ROC” for my first oncology appoint-
ment.
I remember seeing people there who looked very sick and
thinking “uh-oh.”
The parade of surgeons, oncologists, radiologists, and an over
- zealous American Cancer Society volunteer that followed
made me dizzy. I remember thinking “how will I tell my
mom?”
I focused my thinking on what was next. Not the worst case
scenario, not the best case scenario. Just “where do we go
from here?” ...“show me”. I trusted the doctors and set the
appointment for my lumpectomy, convinced that they would
remove the cancer and soon we’d be back in business.
I did not anticipate the level of care and concern I received
from everyone in my life. I really didn’t want anyone to wor-
ry about me. I tried to share my conviction - that I really was
going to be fine. I received a tote bag full of get well cards.
Strangers approached me at the grocery store and told me that
they were praying for me. Friends brought delicious food to
our home. Our board of directors sent a cleaning service to
help me out. The love and concern was humbling.
My pathology reports came back after surgery and the results
weren’t what I had planned on. There was more cancer and
there would be more surgery. With the same surprising cour-
age and gusto, I met up with my doctors to figure out the next
plan of attack.
This courage was new to me, and I am guessing that it
evolved from many places. My husband is a rock. He never
waivered in his conviction that we would be fine. I have
watched my mother co-exist with her disease with grace and a
never ending desire to have as much fun as she possibly can
whenever possible. I have met in Sarah, my co-worker, one
of the strongest & most courageous women ever! Cheryl
Welles, Chairperson of our Mardi Gras fundraiser, continued
Notes from Guests:
“My first stay at Sarah House was in 2009 when my
husband arrived by ambulance for emergency heart
surgery. I slept the first night in the hospital lounge.
On the second day, a nun stopped me in the hall;
asked how I was doing and where I was stay-
ing...then she gave me a pamphlet about Sarah
House. I had been saved! Since then, I have stayed 3
more times while my husband received medical care.
I am so grateful to you all! ...we make tough deci-
sions all the time so that we can pay for medical ne-
cessities. Your generosity makes it possible for us to
have quality health care and quality of life, dignity.
...I am sure that it takes many dedicated volunteers
to keep Sarah House afloat. I also appreciated be-
ing with other hospital families, staying in a house
that feels like home; being in the shadow of a church
and convent; having Cindy here to talk things
through. I hope that I can someday give back what
you’ve given us”. Barb, Canton, New York
“Sarah House is a comforting place. My thanks to al
who make it so. I am grateful for the transportation
back and forth to the hospital. So many kind people
who volunteer their time to help others. I was
amazed at the amount of food offered, all so deli-
cious. I will remember Sara House, staff and drivers
in my prayers. God Bless all of you.”
Fran, Bennington, VT
Cheryl Welles of Empower Federal
Credit Union with Director Jen Coman
We sure hope that you didn’t miss this
year’s celebration. It was hands down the
best yet! Take a dedicated, hardworking
committee, throw in a great venue with
delicious New Orleans inspired food, add
to that a soulful dash of Bourbon Street
music provided by the Fabulous Rip-
cords, and you have a perfect recipe for a
good time.
If you include a well-loved, charismatic
physician and his beautiful, creative wife
as your Honorary Chairpersons, well, it
just couldn’t help but be a successful
night!
When we say successful, it isn’t just in
the over $57,000 that we raised for Sa-
rah’s Guest House operations. It is also
in the new friends that we met and in the
message that Dr. Bratslavsky delivered to
our audience that night.
He shared with us his experience with a
Healthcare Hospitality House at the Na-
tional Institutes of Health. He spoke of
how valuable The Safra Family Lodge
was to his patients and their families to
have a place to stay near the hospital dur-
ing and after surgery. He stressed that the
mission of Healthcare Hospitality Houses
closely resemble that of medical
providers - we are here to help.
Dr. Bratslavsky talked about the level of
anxiety that people feel when they have
to travel for medical care. How some
guests feel overwhelmed by the size of
Syracuse. “Sarah’s House eases that bur-
den”. He spoke of the gratitude that he
personally has for our services.
Dr. Bratslavsky was also able to persuade
ten departments from Upstate to support
our mission of healthcare hospitality by
becoming sponsors of the event.
In addition to the Urology Department at
Upstate, we received major support from
Maryann Roefaro of Hematology/
Oncology Associates of Central New
York, as we have since the inception of
this event.
Empower Federal Credit Union provided
volunteers for the evening, as well as a
sponsorship and a stellar Chairperson to
the committee in Cheryl Welles who we
are eternally grateful for.
A complete list of sponsors, as well as
our auction item donors, is listed in this
publication. Thank you to everyone who
participated - we are grateful to you all.
DID YOU GO HOME with YOUR COAT?
One of our guests’ coats disappeared at our
party! If you came to the event wearing a
woman’s blue winter coat with white gloves
in the pocket and came home with a men’s
full length dark blue coat, please call our
office at 475-1747 so we can get our friend
Andy his coat back!
Honorary Chairpersons, Dr.
Gennady & Katya Bratslav-
sky with Director, Jen Coman
Most festive attire goes to Rita Torsney-
Sullivan and husband Patrick Baker
Below: Dr. Leslie Kohman
and Dr. Jeffrey Bogart;
Adrienne Owens-Collie with
Sarah Valenti; Martha Ryan,
Tamera Lewis, Patty Calla-
ghan; Guitarist Rex Lyons of
the Fabulous Ripcords
Sincere thanks to our hardworking committee:
Honorary Chairpersons: Dr. Gennady and Katya Bratslavsky
Committee Chair: Cheryl Welles
Committee Leaders: Deirdre Reidy, Carol Smith, Rita Torsney-Sullivan
Committee Members: Committee Volunteers:
Mary Hayes Axe Katie Boyea Patrick Baker Paula Becker Katya Bratslavsky Jen Coman Corinne Cannellos Tom Coman Sarah Valenti John B Edlund Amy Fisher Jason Houtenbrink Rona Edlund Joan Gentile Valerie Zacharek Linda Tindalll Ellen Hardy Gail Rizzo-Spilka Noreen Shea Christine Smith Nancy VanDerhoof Paul Valenti Carly Dominick Sobol
Thank you to all who made this event possible:
Patron Sponsor ($5,000) Hematology/Oncology Associates of CNY
Upstate Urology
Support Sponsors ($2,500) Upstate Pathology
Upstate Radiation Oncology
Beverage Sponsor ($2,000) Upstate Emergency Medicine
Entertainment Sponsor ($2,000) IBEW Local 43
Volunteer Sponsor ($2,500) Empower Federal Credit Union
Volunteer Sponsor ($2,000) The Jeffrey & Dorothy Booher Foundation
Friend Sponsors ($1,000):
Anaren Inc. The Allyn Foundation
Upstate Department of Anesthesia Cardiac Associates
Upstate Department of Psychology Excellus Health Plan
Kinney Drugs Pyramid
St. Joseph's Foundation
Live Auction Item Donors:
Carol Smith IMG
Michael and Janice LaPrade Victoria Sinclair Lewis
Disneyworld Henry Wilson Jewelers
Bill and Nancy VanDerhoof LemonGrass
Katya Bratslavsky Sherwood Inn
Thank you for the generosity of our in-kind sponsors:
Graphic Design: Stressdesign, Matt Figueroa
Advertising: Mooney Marketing
Beer & Wine Donors: T.J. Sheehan & Pedulla’s Liquor Store
Print: Dupli Graphics
Favors: PPS (Printing & Promotional Solutions)
Flowers: Empire Flower Supply
Entertainment: Jone’s Tones, Mike the Cartoon Magician
Photography: Tara Hartnett Finnerty
Committee members Mary Hayes and Carol Smith
with SGH volunteer, Kathy Cook
Auction item donors:
Amy Szczesniak
Ascioti's To Go
Auntie Anne's
Big Don's Wild River
Bride Design
Broadway Café
Bull and Bear Road-
house
Carmel Corn at Desti-
ny USA
Carol Smith
Chocolate Pizza Co.
Christmas Tree Shoppe
Chuck Hafner's
CityBliss Photography
Coleman's Irish Pub
Corrina Canellos
Cosmo's Pizza
Crunch Hockey
Daniel's Grill
Dark Horse Tavern
Deborah Hopkins
Designer Warehouse
Dinosaur BBQ
Elan Therapeutic Mas-
sage
Elsbeth Rose
Ellen Hardy
Faegen's
Fashion Exchange
Four Seasons Golf and
Ski
Franciscan Companies
Gentile's Restaurant
Greek Peak
Henry Wilson Jewelry
IMG
J Michael Shoes
James Byrne
James Gilbert
Jefferson Clinton Hotel
Jen and Tom Coman
John "Bruce" Edlund
John Allen
Johnny Angels Burgers
Kathy Bartell
Labrador Mountain
We are pleased to announce a new name and trademark for Sarah House. Effective on March 5, 2014, Sarah House will be Sarah's Guest House. Our new tagline is “lodging for patients and families.” This new name pays homage to our history while providing a more direct link to the services we offer and our future opportunities.
Founded in 1994, Sarah House is the only adult healthcare hospitality house in Central New York. Our name change is important. We want to be sure that anyone who needs our services will know about our mission; that we are available to meet their healthcare lodging needs. The subtle changes we have made will allow people to more clearly understand our mission. We provide lodging to patients and families of patients.
The new trademark reinforces our mission and is built around our four brand pillars:
The continuous efforts of these pillars intertwine into a new whole that invokes the infinite cycle of care in the lives of our guests. We care for them as they care for themselves and their loved ones.
This year, Sarah's Guest House enters is 20th year of service. We feel this professional approach to our mission sets us on the path for the next 20 years and beyond.
As of March 5, you will notice our logo on our brochures, website, correspondence, mailing and promotional mate-rials and with our partner hospitals where we can reach our guests directly. As you will notice by the “old” enve-lopes that we have enclosed with this mailing, we’ll make the most of the leftovers!
Sarah House Board Members:
President, Pat Shute
Senior Director, Performance Improvement, VAH, Mid Atlantic
Vice President , Sean Finnerty
CAO &Vice President of Sales, New York Bus Sales, LLC
Treasurer, Shannon Flood
CPA & Senior Manager, Fust Charles Chambers LLC
Secretary, Corey Driscoll
District Director for Congressman Dan Maffei
Immediate Past President, Carolyn Brown
Director of Community Engagement, P.E.A.C.E.Inc
Amy Connors
Communications Manager, Syracuse University
Nancy Roth
Regional Branch Director, Empower Federal Credit Union
Josh Werbeck
Attorney, Bousquet Holstein Attorneys PLLC
Margaret Cassady
Senior Deputy General Counsel, Excellus Health Plan, Inc.
Rita Torsney Sullivan
Marketing Analyst, KS&R
Laurie Fegley
Nurse Manager, Crouse Hospital
Amy Gressler Szczesniak
Director, Patient Experience, St Joseph’s Hospital Health Center
NOTE: The board members and staff want to
thank Mark Stress of StressDesign and his staff for
their creativity, for taking us through this process,
and for their generosity. They are currently work-
ing on our website and promotional materials. All
work is pro-bono and priceless to us.
“Thanks to someone at Crouse, we were referred to
Sarah’s Guest House.
Thanks to everyone’s hard work and sincerity, we
were able to live comfortably here. Sarah House is
definitely a home away from home for these three
Californians.
Thankfully we are finally able to go back. Not only
do we leave with positive news and peace of mind,
but we also leave with wonderful memories.”
Maria, Karen & Arateli,
Canoga Park, CA
Auction Item Donors, cont.
Katya Bratslavsky
Katya Bratslavsky's Designs
Kelley's Restaurant
Kirby's
Labrador Ski
Laurie Fegley
Lemon Grass Bistro
Lemoyne's Gifford Theatre
LOFO
Luxury Massage
Manny's
Marriott Hotels Armory
Square
Mary Ann Antuna
Maryellen McDonald
Matt Murphy Catering
Matthew's Salon
Maureen Kennedy
Melting Pot
Michael O'Connor
Michael S. Heagerty
Michael Stroman
Michael Timmins
Micki Smith
Morgan's
Mr. and Mrs. Pierce Ryan
Mr. and Mrs. Robert LaBerge
O Yoga
Organic Studio & Oxygen
Bar
Palace Theatre
Patisserie
Patrick Baker
Patsy's Pizza
Paul and Sarah Valenti
Peg Cassady
Pole Position
Popcorn Supply Company
Poster Project
Reclaim and Restore
Revolutions
Richard Ryan
Rita Torsney-Sullivan
Ron and Cathy Margrey
Samuel Haines
Santangellos
Scare-a-cuse
Sherry Nuffer
Shoshin
Skaneateles Country Club
Spa 500
Stephanie Chatis
Steven Infanti
Susan Dietz
Tamera Lewis
The Blarney Stone
The Fun Junction
The Inn Between Restaurant
The Mission Restaurant
The MOST
The Sherwood Inn
Toggenburg
Tom Coman Painting
Tulipwood Lane
Twin Trees Too
Urban Life CrossFit
Varsity Pizza
Victoria Sinclair Taylor
VS Nails
Walt Disney World Co.
WonderWorks
Yogurtland
Courage, continued from page 1
lost her beloved father one week before the event, yet she showed up and led us
through the evening with her best, beautiful smile. My son at 32 years old is working
his tail off to get into Vet School, and is determined to live out his dream of becoming
a veterinarian. (He took time to surprise me by driving from Chicago to be with me
during my mastectomy hospitalization.) I meet people at Sarah’s Guest House on a
regular basis who are going through very challenging and very difficult times, yet they
get up and put one foot in front of the other each day. I’m surrounded by brave people!
One of the first guests that I got to know at Sarah’s Guest House was a woman who
lived half the year in the states and the other half in France. She had a rare recurrence
of her breast cancer 13 years after having a double mastectomy. She and her husband
are loving and generous people who each year donate their home in France for our
Sarah’s Guest House raffle. She was so brave as she faced chemotherapy. I will nev-
er forget her grace. She told me that in France as you leave the hospital, they don’t
say “good luck or “bless you,” they say “Bon Courage,” or “go with courage.” I love
that. You can’t always control situations, but with a little faith, love and hope, you
can control your reaction or your action toward it.
I am very happy to report that I have received a clean bill of health from my physi-
cians and am back to work full time at Sarah’s Guest House. I am so thankful for all
of your love and prayers and good, positive thoughts. I am thankful for the good medi-
cal care that I received at Upstate and at Crouse and from Hematology/Oncology As-
sociates. I am also grateful for the Saint Agatha Foundation, an organization that al-
lows “women with breast cancer to afford their disease.” Thank you.
Here’s to enjoying life a day at a time! Bon Courage!
Jen Coman, Executive Director
Sarah’s Guest House
Volunteer Driver Patrick
O’Connor was in a serious
bike vs. car accident on April
1st. He is recovering well at
Upstate Hospital but has a
long road ahead of him.
Please keep Pat & his family
in your thoughts and prayers.
Pat is a tri-athlete and former
Iron Man so we have no doubt
he will be up and about in no
time. Get Well Soon Pat!
What’s coming up at Sarah’s Guest House?
April: Our new parking area project is scheduled to begin (finally!)
Thank you to Sara Recktenwald and the Allyn Foundation for funding of
this much needed project.
May: Spring clean up and garden preparation by local volunteers
Outreach to churches and hospitals
June: Sarah’s Guest House Open Golf Tournament on June 1st at 12:30 p.m.
Sarah’s Guest House Open House on June 15th - part of the
Strathmore Homes Tour 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Fall: 20th Anniversary Luncheon - details coming soon!
If you are able to help out with any of the above, please call 475-1747
Sarah’s Guest House
“lodging for patients and families”
100 Roberts Avenue Suite 10
Syracuse, New York 13207
Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage
PAID Permit No. 1167 Syracuse, NY
Sarah’s Guest House
Summer 2014 Needs:
Drivers
Gardeners
Housekeepers
Meals for guests
Paper Leaf Bags
Garden Gloves
Laundry Soap
Fabric Softener
Keurig K Cups
Bottled Water
Paper Towels
Toilet Paper
Kleenex Hand
Towels
GE Light Bulbs
Blank Thank -
you Notes
Stamps
315.475.1747