Santa Cruz woman donates vacation house to kidney patient

August 25, 2007

Santa Cruz woman donates vacation house to kidney patient

By J.M. BROWN
SENTINEL CORRESPONDENT

More than two years have passed since foster dad William Jasper had a vacation, and nearly twice as long that he's been waiting for a new kidney.

Although Cecilia Garcia can't help him out with the second problem, the Santa Cruz vacation homeowner certainly can do something about the first one.

While others write checks for kidney research and support efforts, Garcia has found a unique way to help. She is the only Bay Area property owner who donates time at a vacation home to people living with long-term kidney disease.

Jasper and his wife of 27 years, Judy, who care for three foster children, will return to East Palo Alto today after soaking up a week of sun and fun at Garcia's East Cliff Drive rental home, just paces from Moran Lake Beach off 26th Avenue.

"It's just good to get away," Judy Jasper said, recalling the 41/2 years of turmoil since her husband's kidneys failed while fighting off a mysterious bacteria.

"You just get burned out," she said, adding that walks on the beach have rejuvenated the family's spirit. "There's something about looking at the ocean; there just is"

That's what Garcia, a 52-year-old buyer for a medical device company, had in mind when she contacted the Kidney Foundation of Northern California and Northern Nevada to offer an unusual donation. After her uncle donated his kidney to a severely diabetic cousin, Garcia wanted to honor his sacrifice.

"His generosity just overwhelmed me," Garcia said. "I'd been wanting to do something, but I just was not sure how to go about it"

She lives in a studio apartment above the two-bedroom vacation home she rents out. Inspired by a similar story she saw on Oprah, she decided in 2001 to open the house for two weeks each summer so Kidney Foundation families could transplant themselves to the beach for some rest.

Dialysis centers around the Bay Area chose families to be considered for the vacation, and the Kidney Foundation read their applications and selected winners for Garcia.

The foundation's program director, Eboni Stephens, said she chose the Japser family over seven others because she was inspired by their willingness to take in foster children despite all their own problems.

"Their story was really touching — how they give selflessly," Stephens said.

Despite running track and eating well in his younger years, William Jasper, 54, suffered renal failure and became diabetic after contracting bacteria that attacked his kidneys. He continued working in the maintenance department at Stanford University until a year ago, when his health took a bad turn.

The easily fatigued Jasper takes 41/2-hour dialysis three times a week. His wife quit her job as a workers' compensation analyst 21/2 years ago to care for foster children full time, thus allowing her to stay home to take care of him too.

While they certainly needed the relaxation, the couple, who has two grown children of their own, said the real highlight of the vacation has been watching their foster children experience the high life of coastal living, if only for a week.

"They thought my house was a castle," Judy Jasper said of the once-homeless children she nurtures. "I said, 'No, no, we're going to a castle.'"

Garcia's home may not really be a castle, but she hopes her guests are comfortable. Like with all her kidney families, she said she greeted them at the door, handed them the key and reminded them of the only house rule: to have a good time.

"As far as I'm concerned, the place is theirs," she said. "They're home for a week"

Contact J.M. Brownat kalexander@santacruzsentinel.com

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http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2007/August/25/local/stories/05local.htm