Where Home and Heart Meet

“When Transplant families walk through our doors, they’re welcomed home with warmth, kindness, and a community that understands and supports them.”

The holiday season brings with it images of family gatherings and treasured traditions. For Chelsea and her mom Nicole, the season has also meant navigating hardships most families never imagine.

Long hospital stays, managing oxygen supply, and constant uncertainty have been part of their lives for the last seven years. Chelsea was diagnosed with a rare lung disease when she was just 16 years old, and her life has not been the same since.

Soon after her diagnosis, Chelsea began using oxygen. Her need grew from 2 liters to 25 liters, and doctors knew she would need a lung transplant to survive. Chelsea received her first life-saving transplant in 2016 at age 24.

Finally, this past spring, Chelsea got the call she had been waiting for, and she received her second life-saving lung transplant.

Finding a HOME AWAY FROM HOME

Before Chelsea’s first transplant, Nicole didn’t know about Gift of Life Howie’s House. She often drove back and forth from their home in New York to be with Chelsea, even sleeping multiple nights at the hospital.

Once they found the House, they gained more than a roof over their heads. They found a community that welcomed them with the support, services, and care they needed.

“[The House] is such a crucial part of the process, it takes such a weight off
of you,” explains Nicole. Chelsea adds, “It feels like home here. It’s just a wonderful place to be. It takes a load off, mentally and physically.”

Nicole stayed at the House for almost six months during Chelsea’s second recovery, with Chelsea joining her for three months post transplant. After being intubated and unable to speak for nearly a month, coming back to the House felt like coming home.

“Something really beautiful is that my mom cultivated a family here while I was in the hospital, so when I got discharged, I came back to this welcoming committee of people that knew about me and cared,” shares Chelsea.

For both mother and daughter, the community at the House became their saving grace. Every meal shared with other families reminded them they weren’t alone. Every conversation gave them comfort and warmth, and every experience gave them knowledge to help continue their journey.

LIFESAVING Support

“It saved our lives. I would not have been able to maintain anything without [the House], and mentally it would have broken me,” emphasizes Nicole.

At the House, families pay only $40 a night for lodging, meals, transportation, and support services, and no family is ever turned away for inability to pay.

No HOLDING BACK

Even during her sickest days, Chelsea has never let her illness hold her back.

While bedridden for two years, she earned her master’s in business administration, wrote a novel, published poetry, and started her own skin and haircare business.

Now post-transplant, she is excited to travel. She says her family gave her the strength to keep going.

“Having something to live for helped me to get through, and for me that’s my mother and sister. They sacrificed everything to take care of me. I wanted to get better so I can try to give back to them what they have given me.”

Nicole says this experience has shifted her priorities. She hopes to share what she’s learned with other transplant families and dreams of starting a nonprofit to raise awareness of transplant resources

Looking ahead to the holidays, Nicole sees things in a new light:

“All the things that used to be important to me are not important anymore. Watching her move on her own and breathe on her own and not struggle is the present this holiday,” she explains. “This holiday will be about giving back. That’s my mission moving forward.”