Yunhee and Te To Tat and their three kids -- Helen, 10, left, Donald, 13, and Mary, 14 -- need repairs to their San Jose townhouse to stay warm through the winter.

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Warmth for the winter
S.J. FAMILY WITH AILING FATHER SEEKS CARPET, INSULATION FOR TOWNHOUSE

for 10 hours a day, Te To Tat sits hooked up to his kidney dialysis machine. He thinks about his kids and his wife, and what he will do once he gets the kidney transplant his doctor has told him he needs to survive. Maybe he will be able to do some work on the San Jose townhouse his family calls home. Maybe he will be able to play with his children.

``I don't know what happened. My kidney just failed,'' says Tat, 44. ``I got very cold and I couldn't eat. I had to go to the hospital. Since then, I am just waiting for the call from Stanford Hospital that there is a kidney that is a match for me.''

When he is not undergoing dialysis, Tat works as a waiter in a San Jose restaurant, but he can put in only a few hours because his condition makes him weak and exhausted. His wife, Yunhee, works part time as a housekeeper at a local hotel, and can't work more hours since she injured her hand and shoulder and had to have surgery. When she is at home, she tries to make her family happy by cooking pancakes for breakfast, and their favorite dishes for dinner.

The couple's two daughters, Mary, 14, and Helen, 11, require special education services because they are both developmentally disabled. Mary likes to draw, and Helen amuses herself playing with what her dad calls ``girl's toys.'' Donald, 13, who his parents proudly say does well in school, stays after class every day to get help with his homework. But when he has time, he loves to play computer games.

Life is better since Tat's sister bought the family their townhouse, but the place is in desperate need of repairs and upgrading. Sheets hang at the windows, providing very little insulation, and as the weather gets colder, it is especially hard on Tat while he endures hours of dialysis. The carpet is in tatters, patched together with newspaper and plastic.

Married for 14 years, Te Tat and Yunhee hope for the same things for their children as all parents.

``I hope they will be good and healthy and happy,'' Yunhee says. ``And that they will always visit their parents, and be good to each other.''

Insulated curtain panels ($42 per pair) (22A) and new carpeting ($250 per room) (22B) will help keep out winter's chill. And department store gift certificates ($25 each) (22C) will help the family buy school clothing and warm jackets.