Gift of Life Celebrates 35th Anniversary by Breaking Ground on its Future
What started out as a dream centered on helping families through the transplant process is now a reality.
Gift of Life Donor Program recently celebrated its 35th year anniversary and broke ground for the new Gift of Life Family House.
On Sunday, October 18, the official groundbreaking took place for Gift of Life Family House, a new facility that will soon help thousands of families each year better handle the issues that surround having a loved one in the transplant process.
"I have thought about the need for this House for more than 15 years," Gift of Life Donor Program President and CEO Howard M. Nathan said. "When I spoke to other families, 'where to stay' was a big issue. Also, families just wanted the chance to be away from the hospital a little while and be with others who understand the stress and what they were going through."
The Family House, located at 4th and Callowhill streets in Philadelphia, will be the first facility of its kind, developed as a program within an organ procurement organization (OPO) providing service to patients of the area's eight transplant centers.
Slated to open in the fall of 2010, the 30-room facility will provide temporary lodging and supportive services to family members of adult and pediatric transplant patients traveling greater than 30 miles to Philadelphia for their transplant care. In addition to lodging, the development of educational resources and services tailored for the needs of these family members is underway.
"While our region offers remarkable medical care for transplant patients, presently there are no programs dedicated to providing housing and other services tailored for the needs of transplant families and caregivers," said Family House Director Debra Roberts. "The Family House will provide much needed support for family members. A place to stay and catch their breath - and access to other families going through the same experiences."
The official groundbreaking took place amidst a larger celebration Sunday, highlighting Gift of Life Donor Program's 35th anniversary. To highlight the years of work saving lives through organ and tissue donation, the organization brought together its extended community of donor families, transplant recipients, healthcare professionals, staff and others for one big family reunion of sorts. Each of them has his or her own amazing story of life that has come about through organ and tissue donation and transplantation.
In its 35 years, Gift of Life has helped coordinate a remarkable 28,000 life-saving transplants along with hundreds of thousand of tissue transplants, all through the generosity of donors and their families. The work is far from over, however - nearly 6,000 people wait for a life-saving organ transplant in this region alone. And in the U.S., 18 people die each day on that waiting list.
Read more about the Family House on its website, www.giftoflifefamilyhouse.org.
