Angela's House
Preparing to write my message this fall made me appreciate even more the support we have seen come our way this year. The economic down turn has hit us all but we have been blessed with new support that is helping us to fill some of the void from our slow economy.
Earlier this year we were successful in expanding our home care programs. We now have two great service coordinators that are assisting families newly referred to us.
Angela’s House helps to coordinate the complex array of services needed to support families so that they may care for their medically frail children at home. Angela’s House offers a home-away-from-home option for medically frail children when they cannot live at home. We understand the day-to-day, year-to-year support is very important for the well being of the children and their families.
As I sit to write this note, I recall 18 years ago when my wife and I were in the hospital faced with the devastation of watching over our frail daughter Angela who was lying in front of us not knowing what to do, and a strong feeling of being alone. This is why when I see the people and organizations in this newsletter that have voluntarily stepped up to help us, it is just amazing.
Grace is a 3-year old girl born premature but in good health. Due to an accident when she was two weeks old, she suffered a severe hypoxic event when her lungs collapsed. The lack of oxygen caused severe trauma to her brain. She has Cerebral Palsy, Hydrocephalus, Shunts, Periventricular Leukomalacia, Cortical Blindness, Severe Gastroesophageal Reflux, G-Tube, and Seizures. She is unable to speak, crawl, or even lift her head.
I can’t quite remember what the weather was like the day I met Bob Policastro from Angela’s House. Everyday had been gloomy and gray until that point. My wife and I had a lot of questions ahead of us, but few answers.
You see, my wife and I had been living behind a curtain, next to my daughter Kiley’s crib in the pediatric intensive care unit “PICU” of Schneider’s Children’s Hospital for that last week and a half.
Evan’s Story Born Sept 23, 1995, Evan was reported to be hypotonic upon arrival in the nursery. At 6 months old, it was noticed that he was not developing, in holding his head up or sitting unaided. He started seeing all types of doctors and had all types of tests (ex: MRI, eyes, ears, nose, […]
Grace for a Cure Angela’s House works with over 300 children in our community that have life threatening illnesses, severe disabilities and special health care needs. It is not uncommon for us to see some of the rarest diseases or debilitating illnesses affecting our children. One cannot imagine the bravery of families living with children […]
Angela’s House II Opens This beautiful home in Smithtown for medically fragile children is now open. This is the second specialty home on Long Island for children that require 24 hour nursing supervision. The first Angela’s House was built in 2000 in the Policastro’s 10 year effort to have a facility that could care for […]
NYS Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg Breaks the Trend While most politicians were doing campaign fund raising this past fall, this Assemblyman hosted a Special Brunch for Special Children. Angela’s House was one of the proud recipients of this fund raising effort, which raised $55,000 for Angela’s House II. This event was so beautiful it touched everyone’s […]
Anthony Morrone of Horan, Martello, Morrone, PC of Hauppauge wrote a special book about a disabled boy. Anthony touched on the very sensitive insight into the mind and heart of a child who had been born severely disabled, and how as a child he grappled within himself why he was so afflicted.
On August 30, 1989, Bob and Angie Policastro's daughter, Angela, was born. She had suffered severe brain damage during birth leaving her very medically frail, requiring nursing care.
The Policastros received tremendous support while in hospital but they realized there were few services available to help them if they were to leave. The few services that were available were very fragmented and difficult to coordinate. Read More
