Christopher's Haven needs help to expand operations

Christopher’s Haven, a home away from home for families whose children are undergoing cancer treatment, hit a home run with the support of a Red Sox player-sponsored charitable foundation last September.

Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis and his fiancée Enza Sambataro, who founded Hits for Kids to help raise money for charities focused on the health and well-being of children, chose Christopher’s Haven as one of their top priorities.

Now the Wayland-based charity is hoping to achieve what to founder Dan Olsen is the equivalent of a World Series win by securing funding to lease eight apartments and a common room on the same floor at Ten Emerson Place in Boston. The apartment building is steps away from Massachusetts General Hospital where the young patients receive cutting edge treatment at the Francis H. Burr Proton Therapy Center.

"It’s an opportunity that we have to go for, and we have to be aggressive and find the funding," said Martha Bernard Welsh, executive director of Christopher’s Haven.

The charity needs to raise funds quickly from corporate and individual donors to be able to sign leases on the eight apartments which will require about $300,000 per year for operating costs.

"The projection for pediatric proton patients is 108 in 2008, and 85 percent of those come from a distance that is too far away to commute for treatment over a six- to eight-week period," said Welsh. "The opportunity to lease these apartments will help us get very, very close to meeting the unmet need for housing for families who are going through a tough time and are coming here from far away."

"Proximity to Mass. General is essential for kids who have ports imbedded or compromised immune systems," added Welsh. "It’s a quality of life issue. A lot of these families have had as much as two years of treatment before they get here, which often includes hardship and separations. Having the apartment doesn’t just give them a clean, safe environment. It gives them a place they can be a family together again."

Christopher’s Haven leased its first two-bedroom apartment in Boston in September 2006 and a second apartment opened in May 2007 thanks to a three-year commitment from the friends and family of the late Richard A. Cerullo.

"This is our huge tipping year and everything I dreamed of is happening," said Olsen, a Sudbury native. "We have a proven track record. We’ve been open a year-and-a-half and have served 19 families."

Now is the time for corporations to step up to the plate, said Olsen of potential donors who promised to make a substantial donation when the charity became established.
"We’ve been around for six years," said Olsen. "We’re here for the long haul."

A huge boost for the charity, said Olsen, is a core group of about 30 women who have become both guardian angels to the families and a powerful fundraising force.

The volunteers, who call themselves Christopher’s Angels, began when Welsh needed to furnish the first apartment in a matter of days. A family from Alabama whose 7-year-old was being treated for a brain tumor was invited to become the charity’s first residents before the ink was dry on the lease.

Jordan’s Furniture donated the furniture, but everything else, from linens to kitchen ware, was needed immediately.

Tanya Broadbent, Jamie Dorsey and their friends held a shower, and soon Dorsey’s living room was piled high with household goods, books and toys. The group also provided personalized gift baskets for the residents that included activities for the children and gift certificates to local stores.

"None of us had ever done anything like this before," said Broadbent. "It was infectious."

When the second apartment opened in May, a new angel, Melanie Berger, held a shower to equip that apartment.

Soon the group was planning a major fundraiser, a gala dinner dance and auction, held in November 2007 that raised $150,000 for the charity and honored Howard Weinstein, chief of pediatric hematology and oncology at Mass. General.

Broadbent and Dorsey are co-chairing the second gala at the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston on Nov. 22, 2008, with a fundraising goal of $250,000. Honorees at the 2008 gala are Kevin Youkilis and Enza Sambataro.

"When we met with Enza we told her that we started with an impromptu shower and she loved that," said Dorsey. "So Hits for Kids (youkskids.org) is holding a shower on April 13 to get gifts for the six new apartments, and all of the proceeds from the shower will go toward funding an apartment for a year."

Volunteer support is growing among young professionals in Boston as well as in the suburbs. Country Radio 102.6 and On Your Feet Boston Project have also supported Christopher’s Haven with an online auction and fundraising events.

Dorsey said the charity has touched many people including teenagers and children who have collected gift certificates to CVS and Whole Foods stores near Emerson Place to help the families defray expenses.

The volunteers have also befriended the families, providing tickets to sporting events and hosting dinners.

"It’s amazing how close you become so quickly," said Dorsey. "What really drives all of us is that when you offer yourself to someone, just to take a little bit of that burden off them, you connect at a deeper level. It cuts through all pretence."

It was talking with families whose children were being treated at Mass. General that inspired Olsen, a three-time cancer survivor, to establish Christopher’s Haven.

During his treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Olsen met parents who were sleeping in waiting rooms, or even in their cars, because they had no affordable lodging when they came to Boston to get life-saving treatment for their child.

"The whole vision came to me literally in one afternoon," said Olsen. "I knew a place like Christopher’s Haven was what was needed."

Olsen chose the name "Christopher" to represent all the sick children who needed a haven during their weeks of treatment. An actor, musician and songwriter, Olsen is also working on a master’s degree in nonprofit policy at Lesley University to hone his administrative and advocacy skills.

"This is my life’s work," said Olsen. "Our tag line is ‘A home for kids when cancer hits home,’ and that is exactly what it is turning out to be."

For more information on Christopher’s Haven call 888-901-KIDS or visit "www.christophershaven.org". Donations may be made online or mailed to Christopher’s Haven, 30 Boston Post Road, Wayland MA 01778.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reprinted from Wicked Local Wayland, 33 New York Ave., Framingham, MA 01701, Framingham