With a free spirit and a heart full of love, 6-year-old Johnny rides his wheelchair around Family House with a giant smile on his face. He\u2019s bursting with positive energy and always stops to play and chit chat.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Four years ago, Johnny was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease called Juvenile Dermatomyositis (JDM) with Calcinosis Universalis. JDM results in weak muscles and impairs physical function in severe cases.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\u201cFamily House has been a huge help to us financially and emotionally,\u201d said Johnny\u2019s mom and dad, Martina and Aldrich.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cIt was a relief knowing we had a place to stay, while my son continues his treatment and follow-up appointments at UCSF,\u201d said Martina. Their family came to Family House from Houston, Texas in 2022.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cWe feel the homey vibe here.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Johnny has gotten into the groove at Family House. He loves to sing and dance, and he really enjoys engaging in music sessions. Johnny is a kindhearted kid who has many friends. Our staff quickly won his heart with uplifting acts of kindness, like toys from Fozzy\u2019s toy room. For Johnny, it is a welcome treat that can make all the difference after a day of doctor appointments at the hospital.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Back home, he finds happiness in controlling Mario and Luigi in the popular Super Mario video game. He loves the challenge of navigating a colorful 3D world, defeating enemies, collecting power, and leveling up.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n He\u2019s also hands-on when it comes to playing with LEGOs and painting with his mom.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Photography by Marco Sanchez, UCSF Documents & Media.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":13225,"parent":0,"menu_order":11,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_piecal_is_event":false,"_piecal_start_date":"","_piecal_end_date":"","_piecal_is_allday":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"article-category":[386],"article-tag":[],"article-type":[394],"class_list":["post-3784","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article-category-family-stories","article-type-story"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/familyhouseinc.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/3784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/familyhouseinc.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/familyhouseinc.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familyhouseinc.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/familyhouseinc.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familyhouseinc.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article-category?post=3784"},{"taxonomy":"article-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familyhouseinc.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article-tag?post=3784"},{"taxonomy":"article-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familyhouseinc.org\/tl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article-type?post=3784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}