ADVISORY/Family House to Open 10th Avenue Location; Pioneering Agency Will Provide Second Home Away from Home For Families of Seriously Ill Children Being Treated at UCSF.

News Editors/Medical & Assignment Writers

ADVISORY...for Saturday (Oct. 26)

--(BUSINESS WIRE)

WHO: The Families, UCSF Physicians, Staff, Community, and Board Members of Family House WHAT: Family House will open new doors to families of seriously ill children with the dedication of its new facility at 1234 10th Avenue. The public is invited to join in the celebration at the new location that will accommodate 24 families while their children are undergoing treatment at University of California San Francisco Medical Center. It will triple the current capacity offered by Family House and will now serve over 2,000 families per year. WHEN: 3:00 P.M. DEDICATION 2:00 P.M.-5:00 P.M. GRAND OPENING SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2002 WHERE: FAMILY HOUSE 1234 TENTH AVENUE, between Lincoln and Irving Streets  San Francisco, California WHY: The new Family House location will increase accommodations for families over threefold. UCSF medical personnel who saw families sleeping on mats in the pediatric ward or in their cars while their children were undergoing treatment opened the original Family House in 1981. Family House provides a semblance of normalcy and support during one of life's most devastating crises: child with a life-threatening illness. The Board of Directors of Family House decided to meet the increasing needs by purchasing and renovating an additional building near the hospital and across from Golden Gate Park to supplement the original home at 50 Irving Street.

Since opening over 20 years ago, occupancy has stood at 100%. The need for greater capacity grows daily as more and more families from around the Bay Area, the US and the entire world travel to UCSF, one of the country's leading centers providing up to date and comprehensive and treatment for children with cancer and other serious diseases. Family House serves families of children with cancer, serious heart disease requiring open-heart surgery, liver failure requiring transplantation and chronic pulmonary disease like cystic fibrosis who travel to UCSF for treatment. It also provides accommodations for pregnant women in the hospital's fetal surgery program, the first in the world.

The purchase, renovation and operation of the new and existing houses are provided by private funds from individuals, foundations and corporations. There is no mandatory charge for accommodations at Family House. Families are asked to donate what they can afford. Contact: Alexandra Morgan, Executive Director, 415/476-0160 or 415/407-1448; [e-mail].

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