Baby Bella Butler was born on Valentine's Day 2024. She and her parents, Erika Stevens and Scott Butler, are WLA's very first family, arriving on opening day, February 18, 2025. Bella was born with hypoplastic right heart syndrome and later developed dilated cardiomyopathy, but she did not get her transplant until December 2024, after 2 dry runs and 265 days in the hospital.
The family lives in San Marcos, CA (San Diego County) and had a choice of a local Children's Hospital or UCLA's Children's Hospital to treat Bella. They chose to travel the 2.5+ hour distance to get the best care for their daughter's needs at UCLA. When Bella received her transplant, we were able to host them at the W Hotel for 2 nights. After the successful surgery, the parents took turns staying with Bella in the hospital, sleeping in a chair, as one parent would drive back and forth to San Marcos due to work schedules. They were exhausted from driving and constantly worrying about Bella's condition. When they heard we were opening on 2/18/25, they were immediately relieved as their social worker reserved our very first guest room for them. Baby Bella is still being fed by feeding tubes and requires daily outpatient care at UCLA, and lifetime medical care. We will be hosting them for about a month. Erika will be going back to San Marcos to work while Scott stays with Bella at the WLA House for her outpatient treatment. The family has shared, over and over, how relieved they are that they do not have to drive over 2.5+ hrs. (at midnight) back and forth and how fortunate they are that the WLA House opened just in time for their outpatient needs. They have been enjoying the common areas in the House and the comradery with other families and our staff. They now walk to the UCLA Hospital, which is a 7-minute walk, or take a Bird Scooter around the community to shop. We are honored to serve Bella and her family as our first family at the new WLA House!