Fisher House helps families

  • Published
  • By Asante Garrott
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  The Travis Fisher House offers housing support to families with members receiving extended medical care at David Grant USAF Medical Center, whether active duty or retired.

The facility here is part of a unique private-public partnership that supports America's military. The house allows family members to be close to a loved one during hospitalization for an unexpected illness, disease or injury, said Ms. Charlene Hall, manager of the Travis Fisher House.

The Fisher House Foundation was created by Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher. While neither served in the military, the husband and wife team wanted to give military families a home-like place to stay when a family member was hospitalized for critical care due to illness or injury.

Often times, service members and their families stationed at military installations worldwide must travel great distances for specialized medical care. Affording housing on a temporary basis in those areas can add more stress to an already stressful situation and can also create a financial burden on families, said Ms. Hall.

For this reason, The Fisher House Foundation donates "comfort homes," built on the grounds of major military and Veteran's Affairs medical centers.

By law, there is no charge for any family to stay at a Fisher House; however, families must meet minimum requirements. Family members boarding at the house must live at least 60 miles away from the facility, require a stay longer than three days and be physically able to take care of themselves, said Ms. Hall.

The house itself has seven bedrooms each with its own private bathroom. Each family that stays at the house is provided a room and access to the amenities in that room. They can also use the community kitchen which is fully stocked, in addition to the dining room, living room and laundry room.

The majority of funding comes from the Combined Federal Campaign donations, with fundraisers and private donations filling in the gaps.

There is at least one Fisher House at every major military medical center to assist families in need and ensure they are provided with the comforts of home in a supportive environment.

Annually, the Fisher House program serves more than 11,000 families and have made available nearly 3 million days of lodging to family members worldwide since the program originated in 1990. For more information on the Travis Fisher House, call Ms. Hall at 423- 7550.