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Sarah House
PO BOX 20031
Santa Barbara, CA 93120
Office: (805) 882-1192
Residence: (805) 563-9990
office@sarahhousesb.org
stories
Mom's Story
Losing Mom has been the hardest and most painful thing we have ever experienced and the people of Sarah House helped each of us experience loss in ways that has and will continue to make us stronger with time. Mom died peacefully, but not willingly in a beautiful South-Western style villa, which she would have adored, surrounded by family and her new friends at Sarah House Hospice on Sunday morning April 30, 2006.
The Sarah House and in particular Debbie McQuade, the manager of Sarah House, welcomed Mom and the family with open arms and very warm hearts. They helped Mom with her physical, spiritual and emotional needs in preparation for her final journey. The way Debbie and the staff treated Mom was absolutely inspiring and very comforting to the family. It meant so much to see the genuine compassion, which is so often lacking in society today, that all the staff had with Mom. She was always treated with the utmost respect and dignity from the time of her arrival straight through her departure.
Teddy Bears and Angels
Ramon, a hardened man with a history of incarceration, had lived outside for the past ten years. His “homeboys” would no longer let him come stay at their house because “he gets too crazy”. But the good hospice volunteer began taking him to AA meetings and to feed the ducks—which may have been just as important. This “tough” man moved into Sarah House and started to decorate his room with, would you believe, teddy bears and angels! He loves going to the market with the staff to do the shopping, always wanting to bring us somethi
A Special Dinner
Maria, 40 years old, was the youngest child of a strong Catholic family who had raised their six children in the Santa Barbara area. Mom and Dad, now in their seventies, and all six children along with various spouses and children were devastated to find out that Aunt Maria had a large and growing brain tumor. She would not be able to pursue her second career in soil studies as she had dreamed.
Maria held on bravely, doing exercises that no longer helped her to regain her strength. One night she grabbed a lamp from her bedside table and teased that she was working on her biceps by raising the still lit lamp far over her—up and down like a barbell.
Karyn, May 2005
Karyn moved in today after six months as a patient at City of Hope. Her treatments for a virulent leukemia were unsuccessful. She desperately wanted to come home and see the coastline one more time. She returned to Santa Barbara for the last days of her life. When the AMR folks wheeled her into her Sarah House bedroom, she put her head into her hands and cried, “A picture window! "
Bill, January 1, 2005
On Monday morning, I went along with the Hospice nurse over to a small room on Robbins Street, a converted garage really. “Bill White” was lying in the middle of a tiny room, lying on a mattress badly stained with sweat and urine. He had not been able to get up for three days. His face had several days’ growth of beard, full now of spittle and tobacco. Pain and suffering were everywhere on his face. I knelt down next to him and took his hand as carefully as I could. “You look really uncomfortable,” I said. “I am” he replied. “Would you come to Sarah House and let us take care of you?” He softly said, “I will.”
