Four-year-old Joy Arseneau was a little overwhelmed by the bright flashing lights and crowd of people who suddenly emerged in front of her home from three Homewood Fire Department trucks and several private vehicles on Dec. 15.
But when she got two firefighter/paramedics into her rec room to play, she suddenly embodied her name bouncing, wiggling and laughing as she showed them how to cook in her toy kitchen.
Joy is a leukemia patient, and the firefighters visiting her were part of the Fire Buddies program. Daniel Uhlmann and David Vitolka, are leaders in the HFD chapter of the organization started by the Oak Forest Fire Department in 2016 to provide support to families with children who are suffering from cancer.
In addition to Uhlmann and Vitolka, Daniel Matys, a firefighter/paramedic with Oak Forest Fire Department and a member of the Fire Buddies executive board, and a group of HFD staff made visits to Joy and two other local Fire Buddies that night to deliver presents and Christmas cheer.
The first stop was at the home of Julian Stickney, 20 months, whose family just found out a few weeks earlier that he had been diagnosed with leukemia. His mother, Nina Stickney, said the family was still in shock.
“We were all getting over COVID and he was the last one,” she said. “We went to the hospital and we were hoping we would get the all clear and bring him back home, and instead they told us he had leukemia. We were so completely blindsided.”
She found out about the Fire Buddies program from a Facebook friend she happened to run into at the hospital.
Although Julian was a little uncertain about all the attention he received, the family clearly appreciated the support.
The second stop really made Christmas special for the Alford family, whose son, Rowan, 8, has endured numerous health problems since he was first diagnosed with leukemia at 18 months old.
His mother, Jody, said he had responded to treatment when he was younger but had a relapse after the family moved to Homewood a couple of years ago. In the past two years he has had a stem cell transplant and experienced renal failure.
“He’s been complicated since the day he was born,” she said.
On top of all Rowan’s health challenges, her husband recently lost his job, she said.
“We wouldn’t have been able to do much” for Christmas without the HFD Fire Buddies team, she said.
Rowan and his brother, Theodore, were overjoyed with the gifts and offered a steady stream of enthusiastic “thank yous” as they unwrapped packages on their front lawn.
She said the family heard about Fire Buddies from the Cancer Support Center in Homewood. Restarting treatments during the pandemic was difficult, because the family’s support network was back in Kansas City.
“We didn’t really have a support system here. This has been incredibly helpful,” she said.
Fire Buddies has 14 chapters listed on its website, most of them in the South Suburbs. The organization supports its Fire Buddies by raising money to provide them with gifts, but they have also enlisted the help of a number of celebrities, from actors Gal Gadot, Dave Bautista and the Rock to sports figures like Brent Sobel and Kendall Coyne, who have recorded videos to encourage and congratulate children as they battle cancer.
Perhaps more important than either presents or cheers from celebrities is the time the firefighters give their Fire Buddies.
“We’re not just like a one and done deal. we visit them throughout the year,” Vitolka said.
When asked why Homewood firefighters had decided to get involved in the program, Vitolka said it was the right thing to do.
“I don’t see how we not do it,” he said. “I have two kids of my own. I couldn’t imagine having one of them sick.”
Joy, for example, visited the fire department on Dec. 3 and got a tour of the station, fire engines and an ambulance.
Her dad, Jordan Arseneau, said she was thrilled by the experience.
“She told us she wants to be a firefighter,” he said. “She was running around earlier with a fire extinguisher.”
He said the Homewood and Flossmoor community has provided great support to the family, and the Fire Buddies program is an example of that care.
“The Homewood chapter has been amazing to us and has made her feel really special,” he said. “These are the experiences that keep us going.”