“One thing I love about Daystar is that they treat the child not the illness.”
Stephanie Shirley Owner Katie Shirley’s Closet
byCaurieMinerPutnam I photobymichellemacirella When most parents walk into Daystar for Medically Fragile Infants, Inc. in Pittsford for the first time, they are searching for a place to provide daycare for their child with significant medical needs. When Stephanie Shirley first walked into Daystar in 2008 she was just searching. Period. Stephanie had lost her daughter Katie Shirley on June 26, 2007. Katie was one of five young women killed in a car crash in Sodus just five days after graduating from Fariport High School. “I was searching for a way to remember Katie,” Stephanie said. “When I walked into Daystar it was a life changing moment.”Katie loved babies and there are few places in Western New York where the love of babies is as palpable as Daystar. Daystar is New York State’s first and only licensed nursing-supervised medical day and respite program for infants under age three and is specifically designed to serve families whose fragile babies require care above and beyond the capabilities of traditional daycare. “One thing I love about Daystar is that they treat the child not the illness,” Stephanie said. “They make every day count and make it special for each child.” Stephanie chose Daystar to be the recipient of the funds raised by Katie Shirley’s Closet – a store she opened at 19 Courtney Commons in Perinton that sells pre-made and handmade jewelry by a legion of dedicated volunteers. Stephanie began Katie Shirley’s Closet in her home just months after losing Katie. She had received a donation of 6,000 pearls from a jeweler in Fairport and began making bracelets with five pearls – one for each young woman that died in the accident. “I wanted a bracelet on the wrist of every girl in Fariport,” Shirley said. “And from there it just snowballed.” Katie Shirley’s Closet now offers hundreds of different bracelets and other jewelry, Build-A-Bracelet parties, bridal jewelry and accessories, and prints by Lorraine Staunch. Everything in the store reflects Katie’s “exquisite taste” and every dollar made by Katie Shirley’s Closet goes to Daystar. “Exorbitant” is the word used by Coleen Emblidge - Daystar’s Director of Development and Finance – to describe the financial contribution Katie’s Closet has made over the past three years. “The impact Stephanie and her volunteers have made on Daystar has been tremendous.” And Stephanie is not done. Currently Daystar occupies a 2,300 square foot house in a residential neighborhood in Pittsford. The house can only accommodate 12 full time babies, but has a consistently full waiting list. Over the next year, Daystar will be expanding to a 10,000-squarefoot day care home on Lac De Ville Boulevard in Brighton that will allow for 30 children up to age 5 in full-time care.
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september 2011 :: rochesterWomanMag.com
The new building will cost approximately 2 million dollars and Stephanie has pledged her continued support. In the next few months Katie’s Closet volunteers will be placing silver paint cans at Rochester businesses where people can donate their lose change to the project.When the new Daystar building opens, it will have the same warm and homey feel of the original Daystar house that Stephanie fell in love with. And it will have something very special for all those who walk through the doors – an entryway named after Katie Shirley.“I’m very honored to have Katie’s name attached to Daystar,” Stephanie said. “It certainly doesn’t take the pain of losing my daughter away, but it is gratifying to know she continues to help others.”