A haven for families with ailing newborns
Michael's Feat dedicates family resource center at Monmouth Medical
BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY SCOTT FRIEDMAN Above, Adam Puharic and Janet Emma admire a mural in the Michael's Feat Family Resource Room at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch. The room is equipped to provide families with the comforts of home while their ailing newborns are cared for in the unit. Below, the room also provides play space and toys for siblings.

LONG BRANCH - In keeping with its mission to help families with seriously ill newborns, the nonprofit Michael's Feat has created a space with the comforts of home at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch.

The Michael's Feat Family Resource Room opened after a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house at the new medical center facility Saturday.

"I think the room will be a comfort to families," said Dana Puharic, who founded Michael's Feat with her husband, Adam, in memory of their son Michael Gerard Puharic

"It is so frightening being at the hospital and seeing your baby so little and hooked up to all those tubes," she said, adding, "We wanted to provide a homey environment for these families during their stay at the hospital."

The Michael Gerard Puharic Memorial Fund, known as Michael's Feat, was started in 2000 by the Puharics, of Aberdeen, in honor of their son Michael, who died in August 2000 83 hours after birth as a result of a serious chromosomal disorder.

"When I was at the hospital with Michael, I was only there briefly," Puharic said. "I saw a need to create a haven for families. You want to be there every second with your baby. You need a place where you can go where you can feel comfortable and at home."

What was once a waiting room located directly outside the NICU at the hospital has been transformed into a living room away from home through the fundraising efforts of Michael's Feat.

Inside the resource center, families will find soft seating options, a flat-screen TV, a private bathroom, coffee service, a refrigerator, a telephone, toys to entertain the siblings of an ill newborn, and two sleeper sofas if an overnight stay is needed.

It will serve as a place for families to relax and rest, Puharic said, adding that it will be a place for families to unwind and wait to hear from doctors without being confined to a waiting room or leaving the hospital.

The room also provides books and a computer for families to research their child's condition as well as to network with families going through similar circumstances, Puharic said.

"The room is just a huge milestone for us," Puharic said. "After the first year of starting the organization, we realized a room like this was something we wanted to accomplish. The hospital embraced the idea. It has been hard work, but it's good work. It is a labor of love.

"Our goal was to provide an environment so these families can research what is going on," she continued. "It will be a place for them to just sit and think. You just need some down time, and I think that is what we created."

The décor of the center is reminiscent of beach dunes on a sunny day to create a cheery and warm feeling to help ease the stresses families face during their stay, according to Puharic, who said the goal is to provide an escape from the intense atmosphere of the NICU.

Also featured in the room is a butterfly mural that will serve as a donor wall to remember all the babies who stay at the NICU.

"Engraved butterflies will be displayed with the names of the babies and will become part of the mural," Puharic said. "Michael's name and his date of birth and the date he passed will be engraved on a butterfly."

The butterflies can be purchased through Michael's Feat and all proceeds will support the maintenance and any updates to the resource center, according to Puharic.

The original NICU waiting room, including its private bathroom, underwent an $80,000 complete remodeling to become the resource center by a full team of volunteers serving as carpenters, painters, electricians, designers and laborers.

The room became a reality through the fundraising efforts and hands-on work of dedicated volunteers who comprise Michael's Feat, Puharic said, including the efforts of the resource room project chairman, Amy Krok.

Puharic said that Krok was instrumental in turning the idea of the room into a reality.

Krok started off with Michael's Feat about four years ago after meeting Puharic in a mom's club in their towns.

But almost two years later, Krok said she went from being a Michael's Feat "friend" to a Michael's Feat "family" after her son Andrew was born with intestinal problems.

"My son was born in September 2005, and he spent his first three months in the hospital," Krok said. "Living in a hospital for that long, I know how important it is to have a place like this resource room to go to.

"As a parent, you have access to the NICU 24 hours a day, but you can not

eat in there or bring your other young children in there," she said. "That is what this room will be.

"And to have computer access is key," she said, adding, "It is the easiest way to communicate with the large following of people who want to know how your baby is doing as well as research the medical conditions of your baby."

Once Andrew got better, Krok said she told Puharic she was on board with Michael's Feat 100 percent.

"Last July, Dana told me they were working on a project, but they were having trouble getting it going," Krok said. "We put together a volunteer committee and on Saturday we were able to have a ribbon cutting for the resource room."

Although it took a lot of time and hard work, Krok said the room has been a rewarding experience.

"For me, there is nothing more gratifying," Krok said. "I know what it is like to need a place to go. We have now made that place for parents."

Michael's Feat was established immediately after Michael's death on Aug. 1, 2007, according to Puharic.

"At his funeral, we asked that in lieu of flowers or gifts that people donate money to a fund in Michael's name," Puharic said.

"Within the first two months, we already had $10,000 in donations in the bank. And by January 2001, we were a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization."

Puharic said the organization began at her kitchen table and today consists of a 10-member board including one of Michael's doctors, one of Michael's nurses, an attorney and volunteers from the community.

"When you go through such a loss like this, I guess you just put your pain into action," Puharic said. "It is such a rewarding feeling.

"It truly has become a full family effort," said Puharic, who has three young children.

In addition to the costs of the resource center, Michael's Feat has raised another $150,000 in Michael's name to benefit several other projects and families associated with Monmouth Medical Center and Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.

"Both of these hospitals have level-three NICU care units for the sickest of babies," Puharic said, adding, "Michael was born at Monmouth Medical Center, so they hold a special place in my heart.

"The last thing on the minds of these families is material things, so Michael's Feat steps in to help them out through this time," she said.

Michael's Feat learns of the families at the NICU through nurse liaisons at each hospital who reach out to the organization.

Michael's Feat then reaches out to assist the families. Such efforts include respite care, special formula for babies, and "creature comfort" bags with overnight items for babies and mothers.

"Some of these moms go into early delivery and are unprepared," Puharic said. "We try to supply them with things they might need.

"In the bags we include a disposable camera, a phone card, a baby blanket and things for the moms to be more comfortable during their stay.

"It is just a way to let them know that we are here for them," she said.

Michael's Feat hosts three main fundraising events annually, according to Puharic, who said each event is made possible through the volunteer committee groups that are established for each event.

The events include a summer picnic that is held in Manalapan each year on the Saturday of Michael's July 29 birthday week. The other two events are a spring gala and a wine tasting.

"It all takes a lot of hard work," Puharic said. "But we do have tremendous volunteers who make it possible."

Other fundraising efforts, according to Puharic, include last year when Michael's Feat was selected by the Long Branch Amerigo Vespucci Society to be the recipient of its fundraisers.

Although no immediate plans have been put into action yet, Puharic said she would like to see a resource center at Jersey Shore University Medical Center.

"We would love to do more," she said. "We are going to wait to get feedback and suggestions from families who use this one."

To learn more about Michael's Feat, visit www.michaelsfeat.org.