Ellen was born in White Plains and grew up in Chappaqua , NY .  She received her B.A. from the State University of New York at Binghamton and a few years later, she went on to earn her Master’s in Social Work from University of California, Berkeley.  Ellen spent her entire life helping people and giving of herself. 

In 1989, Ellen began working as a medical social worker at Children’s Hospital’s newly established Center for the Vulnerable Child.  She became a case manager to Children in foster care and their families, often following the children as they either rejoined to their birth families or joined an adoptive family.  Her colleagues marveled at the creativity and energy she devoted to her work.  From the A’s games to the Zoo parties, and everything in between that she could engineer, she brought hope and joy into the lives of all the families within her sphere. 

Although many people thought of Ellen as a modern day Mother Teresa in jeans and sweats, her daughter Charlotte has maintained that her Mom always thought she had been Ethel Merman in an earlier life.  She sang and tap-danced her way from “near Broadway” to her grand finale at a recent performance of La Cage aux Folles at the Glenview Performing Arts Center .  No zany role was beyond her reach.  But perhaps her most memorable and prophetic role was at one of her famous Christmas parties for almost 500 children in foster care and their families, where she performed as a tap-dancing “wrapped present.”  Ellen, without question, was a great big gift to all who knew her.   

The Center for the Vulnerable Child (CVC) is a program of Children’s Hospital & Research Center at Oakland.  The CVC is an interdisciplinary team is dedicated to promoting the health and social welfare of vulnerable or medically fragile children and their families.

Children experiencing poverty, family disruption, foster care placement, drug exposure, abuse and neglect, or other threats to the realization of their full potential may be at risk for health, emotional, developmental, or social problems. Services for these children, and support and training for those who care for them, are aimed at reducing these risks and helping children thrive.

The CVC employs a family-focused, early intervention and intensive case management model that incorporates the following services:

• Coordination of medical care
• Assistance with housing
• Developmental assessments
• Parenting education
• Child, parent and family relationship-building and counseling
• Parent and child support groups
• Information and treatment referrals for children with developmental and behavioral concerns

Mission
The mission of Children’s Hospital Oakland is to ensure the delivery of high quality pediatric care for all children through regional primary and subspecialty networks, a strong education and teaching program, a diverse workforce, state of the art research programs and facilities, and nationally recognized child advocacy efforts.

  

History
In 1912, an Alameda County nurse named Bertha Wright and a group of East Bay ladies had a very ambitious plan: to open "the first hospital on this coast where equipment and management would be exclusively for the care of babies…"—all babies, and children, no matter what their family circumstances.
 
Today, Children’s Hospital & Research Center at Oakland is a 205-bed regional and global resource for advanced pediatric care, research, and medical education, with more than 185,000 patient visits per year. Children’s provides Northern California ’s only pediatric trauma center, the region’s largest pediatric intensive care unit, and one of largest sickle cell treatment and research centers in the world. Children’s 166 hospital-based physicians provide expert care in 30 pediatric subspecialties from adolescent medicine to urology.

Some important things will never change. No area family has ever been turned away due to lack of ability to pay. And Children’s Hospital Oakland still looks to the community for the support that enables them to provide essential services to the children and families of Northern California —and beyond.