At Terry’s House, we work extra hard to help our families make the best of the worst circumstances … The House provides a roof over our guest’s heads, meals, transportation to and from the hospital and many other “extra” special touches to help make things as easy as possible. But what you may not realize is that while life might just seem to stop for these families in the midst of their tragedy, the days and weeks often click by and can become a blur – we try to remind our families to pause and celebrate those “normal life” moments along the way. We help them find joy during incredible hardship and there’s nothing more healing that the joy of a child in our home!
  
 

At left, Donna Cardenas, RN, dressed as Elsa from the Disney “Frozen” movie, surprises Leilani and sings “Happy Birthday” to her at Terry’s House.

Recently, we had a very special celebration as one of our youngest current guests, Leilani, celebrated her 5th birthday with us. And, she’s just too cute!
 
Leilani and her mother are from Madera and have been staying at Terry’s House a little over three months now while her father recovers from a major burn injury.

Leilani has become a part of our Terry’s House family. She's a little ray of sunshine in our home and she's befriended all of our other houseguests.
 
So, of course we wanted to do something special for her BIG 5th Birthday, since she wasn’t going to get that Disney "Frozen" themed party she dreamed of with her friends back home. Little did she know the surprise we had in-store for her…
 
The other families staying in the house gathered with us as "one big family" to celebrate. We surprised her with cake, presents, balloons, “Frozen” décor. We even had “Elsa,” the beloved Frozen heroine, who came in for a special visit! (This "Elisa" also happens to be one of the burn nurses who takes care of Leilan’s father in our burn unit). The afternoon was so special for Leilani, her mother, the other families and the Terry’s House Team.
 
Leilani will start kindergarten this fall here in Fresno as her father still has a long, long road to recovery ahead of him. So, for the next four or five months, Terry’s House will remain her “home-away-from-home.”
 
This milestone memory would have not been possible without the support of Terry’s House donors who for the past 5 years have helped keep the lights on for families like Leilani’s and they continue to help us celebrate the good things in life, despite dark times.
 
In honor of Terry’s House 5th anniversary, we are giving away 5 vacations – YOU can help support Terry’s House families like Leilani’s by purchasing a raffle ticket (or however many you want) for just $20! You can purchase tickets online or call 559.459.7200. All proceeds go to Terry’s House. The drawing will be held at Terry’s House July 21 (need not be present to win).

Christa Short
Director of Terry's House