Angela's House
Coordination of Complex Home Care Services and Residential Services for Medically Fragile Children

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Angela's House coming soon to Stony Brook

The Village Times Herald (June 17, 2010)

Nonprofit helps care for medically frail children, support their families, provide 'homes'

By Jennifer Choi

Bob Policastro of Hauppauge lost his daughter, Angela, shortly after her first birthday when she succumbed to severe brain damage suffered during birth. Since his daughter's death in 1990, Policastro has advocated for the needs of medically frail children and their families, garnering state support and funding to construct homes where they can receive 24-hour nursing care.

Since Policastro founded the nonprofit Angela's House in 1992 for that purpose, the first home was built in East Moriches in 2000, followed by a second home in Smithtown in 2005. And now, 20 years after his daughter's death, Policastro will soon welcome a third home in Stony Brook.

The founder, a Hauppauge resident for 17 years, said construction of the third residence, to be located on Stony Brook Road, is slated to begin in the next few months. With hopes of opening the new home in late 2010 or early 2011, the founder and executive director of Angela's House saud he will continue his mission of providing a "real loving home environment" for medically frail children who would otherwise be transported to out-of-state specialty hospitals.

Policastro said he and his wife, Angie, realized the lack of specialized home or facilities in the local area when they were seeking such care for their daughter. Having placed Angela in a specialty hospital in Connecticut, Policastro said the couple was forced to travel for hours to visit their daughter.

"We were kind of thrown into this world that we never thought or dreamed even existed," he said.

Now able to provide 24-hour nursing care for local children, the executive director said it's "unbelievable" to see a third home come to fruition in Stony Brook. He explained that he chose this location based on its proximity to the Stony Brook University Medical Center because the hospital has been supportive of his organization's mission since day one.

In each of the homes operated by Angela's House, state funding and Medicaid allow medically frail children to receive the care they need at no cost, Policastro said. The focus of the Stony Brook home, he added, will be to provide care for ventilator-dependent children.

To gain support from the community members, the organizaton hosts an annual golf outing to raise funds and awareness, according to the founder. This year's eighth annual event, held Monday at the Indian Hills Country Club in Northport, was also a celebration of the soon-to-be third home and raised close to $50,000.

"It's really unbelievable," Policastro said. "We thought it was a dream to get the first [house] going."

In addition to providing 24-hour nursing care, the founder said Angela's House has also worked with the families of over 400 children to help obtain the necessary funding to address their children's medical needs in their own homes.

Noting he feels "very lucky to be able to help people," Policastro said he and his wife have become parents to four children since Angela's death and will continue to advocate for medically frail children.