Written by Madison Smith, PSU’22

For the past 3 decades, the Fisher House program has provided “a home away from home” for families of patients receiving medical care at major military and VA medical centers. These homes offer completely free, temporary lodging to Military and Veterans’ families, allowing them to be close to their loved ones during a medical crisis and focus on what’s important—the healing process.

As of March 2021, there were 91 Fisher Houses located in the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. 27,000 families were served in 2021 (since inception in the 1970’s, FHF has served more than 430,000 families).

Fisher Houses range in size between 5,000 and 16,800 square feet, and have 7 to 21 private suites that are professionally furnished and decorated to accommodate anywhere from 16 to 42 family members at a given time. Fisher Houses feature common kitchens, dining, and living room to encourage families to be able to support one another. Although they have grown in size and square footage, and the number of families that can be accommodated at a given time, each house is designed so that there is a sense of community and support amongst the guests and staff who are all in desperate need of peaceful rest and respite from the stress of their loved one’s illness, injury, or death.

Once construction is completed, the Fisher House Foundation gifts the Fisher Houses to the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration, who co-manage the Houses.

Fisher House Foundation has several other major programs:

Hero Programs—Allows donated frequent flyer miles and hotel points to be used to bring family members to the bedside of injured or ill service members. Over 70,000 airline tickets provided by Hero Miles to service members and their families (worth nearly $105 million). For times when a Fisher House is unavailable, the Hotels for Heroes program steps in and provides hotel rooms for families eligible to stay in a Fisher House using donated hotel points. Fisher House partners with Hilton, Wyndham, Marriott, Choice, and Best Western hotel chains.

Chairman’s Award—in partnership with the Military Times Foundation, the Fisher House Foundation annually recognizes innovative programs for military and veteran communities, awarding $250,000 that is divided among the top applying nonprofits. Each award winner also receives an advertising package from Military Times valued at $30,000.

Scholarships—A grant program that provides scholarships to children and spouses of military families, as well as the children of fallen and disabled veterans. 15,000 students have received $27,000,000 in scholarship awards.

Physician Outlook Magazine is proud to be working with the Fisher House Foundation, providing complimentary advertising and amplification of the good work that they do for our nation’s heroes. We will be featuring some of the families that have been served in future issues and online.