Courage comes when you least expect it.

On December 17th, 2013, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

It was a little surreal. I didn’t really believe it until three

days later when I arrived in the basement area of Upstate Hos-

pital, known as the “ROC” for my first oncology appoint-

ment.

I remember seeing people there who looked very sick and

thinking “uh-oh.”

The parade of surgeons, oncologists, radiologists, and an over

- zealous American Cancer Society volunteer that followed

made me dizzy. I remember thinking “how will I tell my

mom?”

I focused my thinking on what was next. Not the worst case

scenario, not the best case scenario. Just “where do we go

from here?” ...“show me”. I trusted the doctors and set the

appointment for my lumpectomy, convinced that they would

remove the cancer and soon we’d be back in business.

I did not anticipate the level of care and concern I received

from everyone in my life. I really didn’t want anyone to wor-

ry about me. I tried to share my conviction - that I really was

going to be fine. I received a tote bag full of get well cards.

Strangers approached me at the grocery store and told me that

they were praying for me. Friends brought delicious food to

our home. Our board of directors sent a cleaning service to

help me out. The love and concern was humbling.

My pathology reports came back after surgery and the results

weren’t what I had planned on. There was more cancer and

there would be more surgery. With the same surprising cour-

age and gusto, I met up with my doctors to figure out the next

plan of attack.

This courage was new to me, and I am guessing that it

evolved from many places. My husband is a rock. He never

waivered in his conviction that we would be fine. I have

watched my mother co-exist with her disease with grace and a

never ending desire to have as much fun as she possibly can

whenever possible. I have met in Sarah, my co-worker, one

of the strongest & most courageous women ever! Cheryl

Welles, Chairperson of our Mardi Gras fundraiser, continued

Notes from Guests:

“My first stay at Sarah House was in 2009 when my

husband arrived by ambulance for emergency heart

surgery. I slept the first night in the hospital lounge.

On the second day, a nun stopped me in the hall;

asked how I was doing and where I was stay-

ing...then she gave me a pamphlet about Sarah

House. I had been saved! Since then, I have stayed 3

more times while my husband received medical care.

I am so grateful to you all! ...we make tough deci-

sions all the time so that we can pay for medical ne-

cessities. Your generosity makes it possible for us to

have quality health care and quality of life, dignity.

...I am sure that it takes many dedicated volunteers

to keep Sarah House afloat. I also appreciated be-

ing with other hospital families, staying in a house

that feels like home; being in the shadow of a church

and convent; having Cindy here to talk things

through. I hope that I can someday give back what

you’ve given us”. Barb, Canton, New York

“Sarah House is a comforting place. My thanks to al

who make it so. I am grateful for the transportation

back and forth to the hospital. So many kind people

who volunteer their time to help others. I was

amazed at the amount of food offered, all so deli-

cious. I will remember Sara House, staff and drivers

in my prayers. God Bless all of you.”

Fran, Bennington, VT

Cheryl Welles of Empower Federal

Credit Union with Director Jen Coman

We sure hope that you didn’t miss this

year’s celebration. It was hands down the

best yet! Take a dedicated, hardworking

committee, throw in a great venue with

delicious New Orleans inspired food, add

to that a soulful dash of Bourbon Street

music provided by the Fabulous Rip-

cords, and you have a perfect recipe for a

good time.

If you include a well-loved, charismatic

physician and his beautiful, creative wife

as your Honorary Chairpersons, well, it

just couldn’t help but be a successful

night!

When we say successful, it isn’t just in

the over $57,000 that we raised for Sa-

rah’s Guest House operations. It is also

in the new friends that we met and in the

message that Dr. Bratslavsky delivered to

our audience that night.

He shared with us his experience with a

Healthcare Hospitality House at the Na-

tional Institutes of Health. He spoke of

how valuable The Safra Family Lodge

was to his patients and their families to

have a place to stay near the hospital dur-

ing and after surgery. He stressed that the

mission of Healthcare Hospitality Houses

closely resemble that of medical

providers - we are here to help.

Dr. Bratslavsky talked about the level of

anxiety that people feel when they have

to travel for medical care. How some

guests feel overwhelmed by the size of

Syracuse. “Sarah’s House eases that bur-

den”. He spoke of the gratitude that he

personally has for our services.

Dr. Bratslavsky was also able to persuade

ten departments from Upstate to support

our mission of healthcare hospitality by

becoming sponsors of the event.

In addition to the Urology Department at

Upstate, we received major support from

Maryann Roefaro of Hematology/

Oncology Associates of Central New

York, as we have since the inception of

this event.

Empower Federal Credit Union provided

volunteers for the evening, as well as a

sponsorship and a stellar Chairperson to

the committee in Cheryl Welles who we

are eternally grateful for.

A complete list of sponsors, as well as

our auction item donors, is listed in this

publication. Thank you to everyone who

participated - we are grateful to you all.

DID YOU GO HOME with YOUR COAT?

One of our guests’ coats disappeared at our

party! If you came to the event wearing a

woman’s blue winter coat with white gloves

in the pocket and came home with a men’s

full length dark blue coat, please call our

office at 475-1747 so we can get our friend

Andy his coat back!

Honorary Chairpersons, Dr.

Gennady & Katya Bratslav-

sky with Director, Jen Coman

Most festive attire goes to Rita Torsney-

Sullivan and husband Patrick Baker

Below: Dr. Leslie Kohman

and Dr. Jeffrey Bogart;

Adrienne Owens-Collie with

Sarah Valenti; Martha Ryan,

Tamera Lewis, Patty Calla-

ghan; Guitarist Rex Lyons of

the Fabulous Ripcords

Sincere thanks to our hardworking committee:

Honorary Chairpersons: Dr. Gennady and Katya Bratslavsky

Committee Chair: Cheryl Welles

Committee Leaders: Deirdre Reidy, Carol Smith, Rita Torsney-Sullivan

Committee Members: Committee Volunteers:

Mary Hayes Axe Katie Boyea Patrick Baker Paula Becker Katya Bratslavsky Jen Coman Corinne Cannellos Tom Coman Sarah Valenti John B Edlund Amy Fisher Jason Houtenbrink Rona Edlund Joan Gentile Valerie Zacharek Linda Tindalll Ellen Hardy Gail Rizzo-Spilka Noreen Shea Christine Smith Nancy VanDerhoof Paul Valenti Carly Dominick Sobol

Thank you to all who made this event possible:

Patron Sponsor ($5,000) Hematology/Oncology Associates of CNY

Upstate Urology

Support Sponsors ($2,500) Upstate Pathology

Upstate Radiation Oncology

Beverage Sponsor ($2,000) Upstate Emergency Medicine

Entertainment Sponsor ($2,000) IBEW Local 43

Volunteer Sponsor ($2,500) Empower Federal Credit Union

Volunteer Sponsor ($2,000) The Jeffrey & Dorothy Booher Foundation

Friend Sponsors ($1,000):

Anaren Inc. The Allyn Foundation

Upstate Department of Anesthesia Cardiac Associates

Upstate Department of Psychology Excellus Health Plan

Kinney Drugs Pyramid

St. Joseph's Foundation

Live Auction Item Donors:

Carol Smith IMG

Michael and Janice LaPrade Victoria Sinclair Lewis

Disneyworld Henry Wilson Jewelers

Bill and Nancy VanDerhoof LemonGrass

Katya Bratslavsky Sherwood Inn

Thank you for the generosity of our in-kind sponsors:

Graphic Design: Stressdesign, Matt Figueroa

Advertising: Mooney Marketing

Beer & Wine Donors: T.J. Sheehan & Pedulla’s Liquor Store

Print: Dupli Graphics

Favors: PPS (Printing & Promotional Solutions)

Flowers: Empire Flower Supply

Entertainment: Jone’s Tones, Mike the Cartoon Magician

Photography: Tara Hartnett Finnerty

Committee members Mary Hayes and Carol Smith

with SGH volunteer, Kathy Cook

Auction item donors:

Amy Szczesniak

Ascioti's To Go

Auntie Anne's

Big Don's Wild River

Bride Design

Broadway Café

Bull and Bear Road-

house

Carmel Corn at Desti-

ny USA

Carol Smith

Chocolate Pizza Co.

Christmas Tree Shoppe

Chuck Hafner's

CityBliss Photography

Coleman's Irish Pub

Corrina Canellos

Cosmo's Pizza

Crunch Hockey

Daniel's Grill

Dark Horse Tavern

Deborah Hopkins

Designer Warehouse

Dinosaur BBQ

Elan Therapeutic Mas-

sage

Elsbeth Rose

Ellen Hardy

Faegen's

Fashion Exchange

Four Seasons Golf and

Ski

Franciscan Companies

Gentile's Restaurant

Greek Peak

Henry Wilson Jewelry

IMG

J Michael Shoes

James Byrne

James Gilbert

Jefferson Clinton Hotel

Jen and Tom Coman

John "Bruce" Edlund

John Allen

Johnny Angels Burgers

Kathy Bartell

Labrador Mountain

We are pleased to announce a new name and trademark for Sarah House. Effective on March 5, 2014, Sarah House will be Sarah's Guest House. Our new tagline is “lodging for patients and families.” This new name pays homage to our history while providing a more direct link to the services we offer and our future opportunities.

Founded in 1994, Sarah House is the only adult healthcare hospitality house in Central New York. Our name change is important. We want to be sure that anyone who needs our services will know about our mission; that we are available to meet their healthcare lodging needs. The subtle changes we have made will allow people to more clearly understand our mission. We provide lodging to patients and families of patients.

The new trademark reinforces our mission and is built around our four brand pillars:

The continuous efforts of these pillars intertwine into a new whole that invokes the infinite cycle of care in the lives of our guests. We care for them as they care for themselves and their loved ones.

This year, Sarah's Guest House enters is 20th year of service. We feel this professional approach to our mission sets us on the path for the next 20 years and beyond.

As of March 5, you will notice our logo on our brochures, website, correspondence, mailing and promotional mate-rials and with our partner hospitals where we can reach our guests directly. As you will notice by the “old” enve-lopes that we have enclosed with this mailing, we’ll make the most of the leftovers!

Sarah House Board Members:

President, Pat Shute

Senior Director, Performance Improvement, VAH, Mid Atlantic

Vice President , Sean Finnerty

CAO &Vice President of Sales, New York Bus Sales, LLC

Treasurer, Shannon Flood

CPA & Senior Manager, Fust Charles Chambers LLC

Secretary, Corey Driscoll

District Director for Congressman Dan Maffei

Immediate Past President, Carolyn Brown

Director of Community Engagement, P.E.A.C.E.Inc

Amy Connors

Communications Manager, Syracuse University

Nancy Roth

Regional Branch Director, Empower Federal Credit Union

Josh Werbeck

Attorney, Bousquet Holstein Attorneys PLLC

Margaret Cassady

Senior Deputy General Counsel, Excellus Health Plan, Inc.

Rita Torsney Sullivan

Marketing Analyst, KS&R

Laurie Fegley

Nurse Manager, Crouse Hospital

Amy Gressler Szczesniak

Director, Patient Experience, St Joseph’s Hospital Health Center

NOTE: The board members and staff want to

thank Mark Stress of StressDesign and his staff for

their creativity, for taking us through this process,

and for their generosity. They are currently work-

ing on our website and promotional materials. All

work is pro-bono and priceless to us.

“Thanks to someone at Crouse, we were referred to

Sarah’s Guest House.

Thanks to everyone’s hard work and sincerity, we

were able to live comfortably here. Sarah House is

definitely a home away from home for these three

Californians.

Thankfully we are finally able to go back. Not only

do we leave with positive news and peace of mind,

but we also leave with wonderful memories.”

Maria, Karen & Arateli,

Canoga Park, CA

Auction Item Donors, cont.

Katya Bratslavsky

Katya Bratslavsky's Designs

Kelley's Restaurant

Kirby's

Labrador Ski

Laurie Fegley

Lemon Grass Bistro

Lemoyne's Gifford Theatre

LOFO

Luxury Massage

Manny's

Marriott Hotels Armory

Square

Mary Ann Antuna

Maryellen McDonald

Matt Murphy Catering

Matthew's Salon

Maureen Kennedy

Melting Pot

Michael O'Connor

Michael S. Heagerty

Michael Stroman

Michael Timmins

Micki Smith

Morgan's

Mr. and Mrs. Pierce Ryan

Mr. and Mrs. Robert LaBerge

O Yoga

Organic Studio & Oxygen

Bar

Palace Theatre

Patisserie

Patrick Baker

Patsy's Pizza

Paul and Sarah Valenti

Peg Cassady

Pole Position

Popcorn Supply Company

Poster Project

Reclaim and Restore

Revolutions

Richard Ryan

Rita Torsney-Sullivan

Ron and Cathy Margrey

Samuel Haines

Santangellos

Scare-a-cuse

Sherry Nuffer

Shoshin

Skaneateles Country Club

Spa 500

Stephanie Chatis

Steven Infanti

Susan Dietz

Tamera Lewis

The Blarney Stone

The Fun Junction

The Inn Between Restaurant

The Mission Restaurant

The MOST

The Sherwood Inn

Toggenburg

Tom Coman Painting

Tulipwood Lane

Twin Trees Too

Urban Life CrossFit

Varsity Pizza

Victoria Sinclair Taylor

VS Nails

Walt Disney World Co.

WonderWorks

Yogurtland

Courage, continued from page 1

lost her beloved father one week before the event, yet she showed up and led us

through the evening with her best, beautiful smile. My son at 32 years old is working

his tail off to get into Vet School, and is determined to live out his dream of becoming

a veterinarian. (He took time to surprise me by driving from Chicago to be with me

during my mastectomy hospitalization.) I meet people at Sarah’s Guest House on a

regular basis who are going through very challenging and very difficult times, yet they

get up and put one foot in front of the other each day. I’m surrounded by brave people!

One of the first guests that I got to know at Sarah’s Guest House was a woman who

lived half the year in the states and the other half in France. She had a rare recurrence

of her breast cancer 13 years after having a double mastectomy. She and her husband

are loving and generous people who each year donate their home in France for our

Sarah’s Guest House raffle. She was so brave as she faced chemotherapy. I will nev-

er forget her grace. She told me that in France as you leave the hospital, they don’t

say “good luck or “bless you,” they say “Bon Courage,” or “go with courage.” I love

that. You can’t always control situations, but with a little faith, love and hope, you

can control your reaction or your action toward it.

I am very happy to report that I have received a clean bill of health from my physi-

cians and am back to work full time at Sarah’s Guest House. I am so thankful for all

of your love and prayers and good, positive thoughts. I am thankful for the good medi-

cal care that I received at Upstate and at Crouse and from Hematology/Oncology As-

sociates. I am also grateful for the Saint Agatha Foundation, an organization that al-

lows “women with breast cancer to afford their disease.” Thank you.

Here’s to enjoying life a day at a time! Bon Courage!

Jen Coman, Executive Director

Sarah’s Guest House

Volunteer Driver Patrick

O’Connor was in a serious

bike vs. car accident on April

1st. He is recovering well at

Upstate Hospital but has a

long road ahead of him.

Please keep Pat & his family

in your thoughts and prayers.

Pat is a tri-athlete and former

Iron Man so we have no doubt

he will be up and about in no

time. Get Well Soon Pat!

What’s coming up at Sarah’s Guest House?

April: Our new parking area project is scheduled to begin (finally!)

Thank you to Sara Recktenwald and the Allyn Foundation for funding of

this much needed project.

May: Spring clean up and garden preparation by local volunteers

Outreach to churches and hospitals

June: Sarah’s Guest House Open Golf Tournament on June 1st at 12:30 p.m.

Sarah’s Guest House Open House on June 15th - part of the

Strathmore Homes Tour 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Fall: 20th Anniversary Luncheon - details coming soon!

If you are able to help out with any of the above, please call 475-1747

Sarah’s Guest House

“lodging for patients and families”

100 Roberts Avenue Suite 10

Syracuse, New York 13207

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage

PAID Permit No. 1167 Syracuse, NY

Sarah’s Guest House

Summer 2014 Needs:

Drivers

Gardeners

Housekeepers

Meals for guests

Paper Leaf Bags

Garden Gloves

Laundry Soap

Fabric Softener

Keurig K Cups

Bottled Water

Paper Towels

Toilet Paper

Kleenex Hand

Towels

GE Light Bulbs

Blank Thank -

you Notes

Stamps

315.475.1747