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About The Valerie Fund

The Valerie Fund presents Grace's House, A Designer Show House Restoration of historic Plainfield mansion will benefit children in our area battling cancer and blood disorders

Maplewood, N.J. April 1, 2019 – In May of 2018, nine year-old Grace received a devastating diagnosis: she had a Germ Cell Brain Tumor. Grace's treatment brought her to The Valerie Fund Children's Center at Newark Beth Israel and after rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, she is recovering well. In the last year, Grace has shared her journey battling cancer in a very public way and has become an important advocate for increasing funds for pediatric cancer research. She has been to Washington, D.C. twice – seated right beside the First Lady during the President's State of the Union in February. Recently, she participated in a round table discussion with the Vice President on ways to promote childhood cancer awareness.

Grace's grateful family also sought ways to give back to the organization that is taking such good care of their daughter and granddaughter. Just months before Grace's diagnosis, her grandfather, Dan Reichard, a builder and principle of ER Development along with his partners Thomas and George Allen purchased a historic home with plans to renovate and sell. Instead, he offered the use of 950 Hillside Avenue in Plainfield as a fundraiser and 20 interior designers are working hard to showcase their visions and talents.

Christened Grace's House, the mansion, built in 1870, is located in the historic Hillside Avenue district and will eventually be for sale, but beginning April 25th, the public will have the opportunity to tour approximately 20 of the house's rooms, nooks, stairways and landings – more than 7,000 square feet across three floors.

Interior Design businesses selected to participate in bringing this very special home back to its former glory include:

AK Design Studios, Monsey, NY
ANEW Kitchen & Bath, North Plainfield, NJ
B. Garcia Designs, Upper Montclair, NJ
Butter & Velvet Home and Design, Denville, NJ
California Closets, Fairfield, NJ
CD Interiors, Manalapan Township, NJ
DB Interiors, Edison, NJ
DiMattina Design
The French Martini, Westfield, NJ
Gail Davis Designs, South Orange, NJ
Global Home NY, Princeton, NJ 
Images in Design, Inc. Cranford, NJ 
JAB Design Group, Penn Valley, PA 
JMW Interiors, Millburn, NJ 
Liepold Design Group, Millburn, NJ 
Marina V. Design Studio, Ridgewood, NJ 
Mendham Interiors, Mendham, NJ 
Mimi & Hill, Westfield, NJ 
Samuel Robert Signature Spaces, Millburn, NJ
Swati Goorha Designs, New Providence, NJ
Tina Ramchandani Creative, New York

"Building a Brighter Future for The Valerie Fund Kids." Proceeds from public and private tours of the Show House as well as ad journal sales and sponsorships will benefit The Valerie Fund's Green Light Initiative, a $5,000,000 Capital Campaign. This initiative is the most ambitious chapter in The Valerie Fund's history to date, poised to extend "next generation care" to thousands of children fighting life-threatening diseases.
The Valerie Fund is proud to recognize Design NJ as a media sponsor. Gold sponsor, Holby Valve heads the list of generous supporters which also includes Coughlin Duffy LLC, Stephen and Tina Squeri, Ernst & Young, LLP, RWJ Barnabas Health, Sharon Reichard, Skylands Insurance Group and Worldwide Wholesale Floor Coverings as a sponsor and a designer resource. Generous in kind sponsors include Benjamin Moore, Dente Trading, Atlas Marble & Granite, Swarovski and Window Works.

At The Valerie Fund each year, Grace and 6,000 other precious children benefit immeasurably by receiving their medical treatment close to home in a child-centered environment. Individualized support from an entire psychosocial team – Integrative and Palliative Care specialists, Psychologists, Social workers, Child Life specialists and Educational liaisons -- makes sure their quality of life is the best it can possibly be without regard to insurance reimbursements. And Grace's favorite – Camp Happy Times, is a free one week overnight summer camp for children with cancer.

To see the amazing house transformation, Grace's House will be open to the public every Thursday through Sunday beginning Thursday, April 25th through Sunday, May 19th. Tickets for the house tours are $30 until April 15th and $35 beginning April 16th on The Valerie Fund website https://www.thevaleriefund.org/specials/showhouse/tickets.php and $35 at the door.

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