This past weekend was filled with love and joy as Angela’s House kicked off the holiday season with their annual Holiday Party. The parties were hosted on Saturday and Sunday, so all families involved with the organization had the opportunity to go celebrate with their friends.
Angela’s House, a locally operated non-profit organization that assists families caring for children with special health care needs who are medically fragile, chronically ill or living with a life-threatening illness.
Their mission is to “identify families caring for their children who may have a severe disability or medical condition so that we may help them obtain supportive services to improve the quality of life for the children and their family.”
Angela’s House is not only for the children, though. They provide much needed support and resources to the child’s family as well.
“Their focus, attention to detail, that’s what makes these events so great,” says Mrs. Schmidt, whose family has been with Angela’s house for six years. “We look forward to these types of events every year. You really want to make sure you get a good seat and watch all the wonderful things they do.”
With that advice, The Messenger watched children and families rejoice in happiness and fun with dancing, crafts, face paint, caricature artists, balloon animals, and character parades. Volunteers dressed as elves, princesses, Buzz Light Year, Winnie the Pooh and his best friend Tigger, even Peppa Pig made an appearance.
Kacey Nigen, 16, is a Junior at William Floyd High School and has been with Angela’s House for as long as he can remember. “They do very cool events like this every year,” says Kacey, who looks forward to hanging out with his friends and family at each event.
Emma, 13, and her mother, Sue have been with Angela’s House for about ten years.
“We first started out on their reimbursement program, which helped us a ton.” Sue explains that there are levels of resources available at Angela’s House. When Emma turned three, she became sicker and went to Angela’s House for additional aid, becoming a full time member of the organization. Angela’s House also helped Emma and Sue with everyday items that were needed and cannot be funded through other means. Angela’s House calls this their “Everyday Wishes” program.
“She was an eloper, so they helped us get an alarm system so I could hear the door open when I was in the shower or something,” says Sue. “They’ve helped us with getting a medical stroller and orthotics when she was little. They were always asking ‘what do you need? What can we help you with?’”
The Everyday Wishes program uses donations and grants to assist families by paying for medical supplies, equipment and other support services that are not covered by insurance or other funding means.
“We work with children that unfortunately have essential equipment or supplies denied by their private insurance and/or Medicaid and need an alternative funding source to help their parents to pay for these much-needed items. It is a sad reality that many essential items are not covered or have a limit to how much will be covered by a public program,” says Angela’s House. “These fundraised dollars are only used when we have exhausted all other means. We receive requests every week from parents that need assistance with getting important resources for their children.”
Events like the Holiday Party are what Emma loves most about Angela’s House. Sue mentions the organization hosts events like this every month for the kids. Emma’s favorite is doing arts and crafts with A&R Workshop, which hosts Angela’s House events every few months. She also loves Family Day at White Post Farm where she gets to spend the entire day petting animals with her friends and family.
“She has friends now because we’ve been to so many things,” explains Sue. “And it’s nice to talk to all the parents too.” Angela’s House has allowed parents and siblings to meet other families who are going through similar situations. They’ve created support groups and friendships through the organization.
“Whether it be little or big, they help with everything. Everyone is so wonderful; we love everyone, especially Mr. Bob.”
Bob Policastro is the founder of Angela’s House. Bob and his wife, Angie named the organization after their daughter, Angela, who passed away at one year old due to severe brain damage during birth. Angela was medically frail and required nursing care. The closest resource available to Bob and Angie was in Connecticut. Being hours away from their first-born child was both mentally, emotionally, and physically hard, inspiring them to create a home for children and their families right here on Long Island.
“If you ever hear Bob talk about the organization, you’ll hear the passion in his voice. It just moves you,” says Emily, a volunteer with Angela’s House since 2015.
Since its inception in 1991, Angela’s House has built three locations, including one with the ability to support ventilator care, the first of its kind in New York State.
“When we were at our lowest of lows, they were there to help us out,” says Sue. “There is always support, there is always someone to talk to. It is a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful organization. The more money they get the more people they can help.”
Kim, who started with the organization at the age of five, aged out and became a volunteer at eleven years old. Now 23, Kim is proud to work with Angela’s House.
“I love seeing how happy I can make other people,” says Kim. While working with the organization, she aspires to work in the medical field. “When you see the joy and you see the kids dancing on the dance floor, you’ll see why we do this,” adds Emily. “You’ll see the expressions on the kids’ faces, on the parents’ faces because they are so happy, and on the siblings’ faces. [Bob] wanted to have something where parents can network, find information. So, people knew where to turn, what to do to find the resources that are available. It’s an incredible organization to be a part of.”
Emily Serva, 17, is a volunteer for Angela’s House and has been since she was about thirteen years old. She has completed many projects for Angela’s House including building swing sets in the backyard of the houses. She is the oldest sibling of triplets, one of whom is medically fragile and in Angela’s House’s care. Volunteering has been both rewarding and inspiring for Emily as it encouraged her to become a nurse. Emily is now enrolled in a college nursing program starting in the fall of 2024.
“The houses are beautiful, they have an amazing and welcoming environment, not that hospital feel. It’s a beautiful place,” says Rob, Emily’s father.
Every kid at the event and their siblings get to choose from the array of toys that spread across the entire room on display and take it home with them to play with as a holiday present.
“We always like to have little things here and there that everyone gets to take home, like face painting or the caricature pictures,” says Ketsia, a volunteer who runs the Angela’s House social media. “We have an Amazon wish list so that if people are not sure what to give, they can use that as a resource. Businesses put toy boxes out for us as well as individuals who collect toys.”
Angela’s House runs a year-round toy drive to prepare for their holiday events, allowing the children to have their pick of toys to play with.
