Mary Narvid
“A Feeling of Home”

If you have ever visited or stayed at Howie’s House, the first thing you see is that great big blue chair, and you can’t help but smile.   During my stay for my brother’s transplant, I couldn’t help but get the Welcome Home feeling every day when I came back from a stressful day at the hospital.   You got the feeling it way saying, “Come in – Sit Down –  Close your eyes- Relax – and finally Breathe”.   You knew they were there taking care of you, from a safe place to stay, warm meals and kindness from everyone.  It was totally a “Feeling of Home” away from home.

VOTE HERE

Molly Torsvik
“A Feeling of Home”

This is the house that my mom and dad built when they got married. It has been my home all my life and it was also grandma’s home until she died.

VOTE HERE

Caroline Fenton
“Dress Rehearsal”
Oil on Canvas, 16×18 inches

My painting “Backstage” embodies the contest prompt “Feeling of Home” through themes of intimacy, connection, and belonging. Home isn’t just a physical space—it’s often found in the relationships and rituals that bring comfort and warmth. I was inspired by my 15 years of dancing ballet to capture the profound sense of belonging and community that dance has given me. This moment represents trust, care, and the kind of quiet closeness that makes a space feel like home because of who you’re with, not where you are. 

VOTE HERE

Tim OKrongly
“Tanner”

There’s a feeling of comfort that comes from having a pet in the home. Our family pet was a rescue dog named Tanner. When I needed a lung transplant… another form of comfort came from the support  our family received from the Gift of Life foundation. From information to lodging they were a source we could rely on… just like Tanner. I painted Tanner while I was sick, coughing, had trouble breathing and could barely walk up a stair or two. He stayed by my side through the entire journey and recently went to the big dog park. Tanner was with us for 14+ years and every time I see this painting I’m reminded of how much he made our house feel like home. Just like Howies House. 

VOTE HERE

Christine Cleaver
“Eternal Vision: A Feeling of Home”

This abstract artwork, titled Eternal Vision: A Feeling of Home, symbolizes the profound legacy of life, connection, and hope inspired by my father’s cornea donation and the Gift of Life Howie’s House. The swirling, ethereal design merges my father’s warm and kind expression with the comforting essence of the Howie’s House, representing a sanctuary of support and a true “feeling of home” for transplant families. The flowing colors and glowing lights evoke a sense of renewal, belonging, and community, reflecting the ongoing impact of his generous gift. This piece celebrates my father’s legacy and the unity, hope, and comfort that organ and tissue donation brings to others.

VOTE HERE

Maureen Bowie
“If These Walls Could Talk”

Weathered and worn with an autumnal face,
there lies within eternal love and grace,
“If these walls could talk”
What might they say?
Oh the stories of life they could tell.

My affiliation with Gift of Life began shortly after they opened in 2011. My family started volunteering for the houses “Home Cook Heroes” program. It was through the passing of my nephew Kevin P. Spiers, an organ donor, that we formed a connection with the house. Each Month for the past 13 years our group (Team Spiers) plans and prepares a meal for the house guests. When we began doing this we had no idea of the grace it would provide us as well as the impact it has on the community.

VOTE HERE

Kelly Brown
“A Heart Finds A New Home”

My painting was inspired by my son Matthew’s heart transplant in June 2014 when he was five years old.  We live in Virginia and Matthew’s new heart came from an 8-year-old organ donor named Brayden who lived in Tennessee.  Since Brayden’s home was in Tennessee and Matthew’s home is in Virginia, my painting depicts the journey of Brayden’s heart to its new home.  Matthew and I always stay at the Gift of Life Howie’s House when we travel to Philadelphia for his post-transplant appointments.

VOTE HERE

Skanda Ravindra
Untitled

Most people have a tendency to label the place they grew up as their feelings of home, though there is nothing wrong with having your childhood town or city as your home. I feel that there are a host of reasons that are at play here that lead to this feeling. These same reasons are responsible for people who have found new homes or those who have never had that feeling of home due to war, trauma, and displacement. 

Which is why I believe that kindness and the shared experiences that we have with the people and the community are the bedrock, the true essence of the feeling of being at home regardless of one’s geographic origin. That same love and shared joy that one experiences at home is what I wanted to show in my artwork.

VOTE HERE

Patricia Busarello
“Untitled”

“A Feeling of Home” changes as we go through life. The full and lively home where I raised my family became quiet through their college years. Time moves on and we must adjust.  What a lovely surprise to have this same house come back to life more and more as each grandchild was born!  One of the many new traditions was the town ‘Santa Parade’ each year. The Grands were piled into a wagon for many years until they were old enough to walk to the parade route. They would sit on the curb cuddled together waiting for Santa to appear on his fire truck. This drawing is from a picture of them bundled up for our trip down the street. Once again time has moved on and we must adjust. The house has been sold and a new house will become home with time.  I look forward to new traditions.

VOTE HERE

Shireen Saidi
“Sunlit Slumber”
Oil on Canvas
12×16

“Sunlit Slumber” captures a quiet, fleeting moment—the warmth of golden hour spilling over a bed, filling the space with stillness and peace. More than just a place of rest, a bed is essential to a home, offering not only physical comfort but also a sense of security. This piece explores where light and warmth also create that feeling of comfort. It serves as a reminder that even in life’s most challenging moments, simple moments have the power to bring peace, hope, and a sense of home.

VOTE HERE

Jennifer Wolfe
“A Feeling of Home”

A feeling of home represents a place that gives you comfort during the uncertain times of going through transplant. In my artwork the puzzle pieces represent each of the different types of transplants that are being fulfilled while staying at the gift of life house. They come together with the house of the home and give you comfort and love from strangers as you go through something life changing as a family and patient. 
My mother and I were lucky to have the Gift of Life house last year as my father went through a liver transplant. It was nice to meet other people going through similar stories to not feel alone during the process. Along with having a place close to the hospital to stay while he was waiting for a liver and recovering from the transplant. Since the transplant my parents have also been able to stay when they have had early morning appointments to make it easier on them with travel. The gift of life house means so much to use for all they helped us with during this time. 

VOTE HERE

Ciel Bernabei
“Sweet September Breeze”
Watercolor on Canvas

 It’s an area where I go for trips with my family. Good times and memories

VOTE HERE

Saanvi Reddy 
Untitled

This artwork is meant to exemplify the feeling of home through the incorporation of the Howie’s House’s “Chimes of Hope.” While looking for items that would be representative for family or the home, I found that these chimes represented this feeling. Although they are meant to bring hope to the residents of the Howie’s House, I felt that its representation of hope and positivity gave its homely feeling. The flowering plants and the positive, friendly feeling that came from these chimes reminded me of my own home. I wanted to exemplify friendliness and warmness while incorporating a feeling familiarity through the incorporation of a familiar asset of the Howie’s House.  
VOTE HERE

Jay Dillalogue
“Grief Transformed”

It is a portrait of grief transformed into fragile hope. My mother with her gentle wisdom taught me that monarch butterflies were messengers, spirits of loved ones returned. When cancer stole my her from me, her absence left a void inside me. However, there was a single butterfly that day. It wasn’t just a creature; it was her, a whisper of her loved carried on delicate wings. Now, each Monarch I see is a bittersweet reminder of her gone too soon, yet a comforting warmth that she’s still near, watching. It’s the feeling of ‘home’ I find in their flight, a testament that love, like the butterfly, transcends death, forever fluttering in my heart.”

VOTE HERE

Jay Dillalogue
“A Beautiful Disaster”

An eye, the window to a soul fractured by time and circumstance. Within its iris, a clock ticks, its hands encircling a miniature house where a family resides, a family resides, a symbol of cherished memories and the heart’s deepest desires. At the clock’s core, the word ‘Desperation’ is etched, a stark reminder of the emotional turmoil within. Surrounding this inner world, the eye’s outer edges are fragmented like shattered mirrors, each piece reflecting a distorted, broken reality. These shards reveal the world as the eye perceives it, a fractured landscape of the external world against the internal struggle, capturing the poignant tension between longing for home and the crushing weight of despair.
VOTE HERE