Fisher House Foundation is a charity and foundation that builds comfort homes where military & veterans families can stay free of charge, while a loved one is in the hospital. Fisher Houses are located at major military and
VA medical centers nationwide, and in Europe, close to the medical center or hospital it serves. Fisher House Foundation ensures that there is never a lodging fee.
Fisher Houses have between 8 and 21 suites, with private bedrooms and baths. Families share a common kitchen, laundry facilities, a warm dining room, and an inviting living room.
Since its inception, the program has saved military and veterans’ families an estimated $500+ million in out-of-pocket costs for lodging and transportation.
Currently, Ken Fisher, Zachary’s grand-nephew, continues the legacy and serves as the Chairman and CEO of Fisher House Foundation.
History
The Fisher House program was founded in 1990, after Pauline Trost, wife of Admiral Carlisle Trost, former
Chief of Naval Operations
The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the professional head of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the secretary of the Navy. In a separate capacity as a memb ...
, made
Zachary Fisher
Zachary Fisher (September 26, 1910 – June 4, 1999) was an American philanthropist and businessman. Born in the Brooklyn area, Fisher began his involvement with construction in his teen years. He then played a role in the New York real est ...
of
Fisher Brothers
Fisher Brothers is a real estate firm in New York City. It was formed by Martin Fisher in 1915, soon joined by his brothers Larry (born 1907), and Zachary (born 1910). The Fisher family has substantial real estate holdings in New York City and els ...
, aware of the need for housing for military families during hospitalization of a loved one.
The Fishers entered into a “
public-private partnership” with the government,
who allowed Fisher to build on their land, after which the home was “gifted” back to the military, to operate in perpetuity. He helped ensure that families could have "a home away from home", enabling them to be a part of the healing process.
The organization has also covered death gratuity payments of $100,000 USD to families of soldiers killed in the line of duty during government shut-downs. During the
16-day 2013 government shutdown, they provided $750,000 in grants to 30 families.
Foundation mission statement
Fisher House Foundation, Inc. is an international, not-for-profit organization established to improve the quality of life for members of the military, veterans, and their families. The Foundation builds comfort homes at military and VA medical centers and gifts them to the government. Other Quality of Life programs include the Hero Miles and Hotels for Heroes programs, ongoing assistance to Fisher Houses, scholarships, support for continuing rehabilitation initiatives, and individual assistance to members of the military and their families during a crisis.
Housing
In 1991, the first Fisher House was opened, at the National Naval Medical Center (now
Walter Reed Military Medical Center) in
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...
.
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
and
Mrs. Bush joined Zachary Fisher, and his wife Elizabeth, to dedicate the house.
Zach and Elizabeth continued to use their own money to build additional homes until his death in 1999. Today, there are over 85 Fisher Houses in operation in the United States and Germany, as well as partnership in the UK with the
Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Charity was created mainly to support medical and health research, and to fund and encourage excellence in healthcare for patients and their care givers, wholly or mainly through the services provided by University ...
and
Help for Heroes
Help for Heroes (H4H) is a British charity which provides lifelong recovery support to British Armed Forces service personnel who have been wounded or injured in the line of duty, and to their families, originally only since 11 September 2001, th ...
to open accommodation for patients at the
Royal Centre for Defence Medicine
Royal may refer to:
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* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
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* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a c ...
and their families.
Other locations have grown and expanded, from the original square footage, in order to not turn away those in need.
Fisher Houses have up to 21 suites, with private bedrooms and baths.
Families share a common kitchen, laundry facilities, a warm dining room and an inviting living room. Fisher House Foundation ensures that there is never a lodging fee. The average stay of a family at the centers is nine days, but the longest stay is three years.
Other programs
Fisher House Foundation also operates the Hero Miles Program, using donated
frequent flyer miles
A frequent-flyer program (American English) or frequent-flyer programme (British English) is a loyalty program offered by an airline.
Many airlines have frequent-flyer programs designed to encourage airline customers enrolled in the program ...
to bring family members to the bedside of injured service members
as well as the Hotels for Heroes program using donated hotel points to allow family members to stay at hotels near medical centers without charge. The Foundation also manages a grant program that supports other military charities and scholarship funds for military children, spouses, and children of fallen and disabled veterans.
Impact
According to the organization's website in 2019 the foundation had over 32,000 families stay in Fisher Houses and since 1990 has saved these families over $500 million in travel expenses.
Partnership
Over the years the Fisher House Foundation has partnered with other foundations, organizations, and companies in order, to raise money, stock the homes, and help those at the homes and military families. Some of those include;
*
Newman's Own
Newman's Own is an American food company headquartered in Connecticut. Founded in 1982 by actor Paul Newman and author A. E. Hotchner, the company donates all of its after-tax profits to charity through the Newman's Own Foundation, a private non ...
*
Suave
Suave is a brand name based in Chicago, Illinois, used by the Unilever company in the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Canada. Targeting discount stores, the brand represents more than 100 products including shampoo, lotions, soaps a ...
* Fuzzy's Vodka
*
National Football League Players Association (NFLPA)
*
Hope for the Warriors
Hope For The Warriors is a national nonprofit organization in the United States that provides assistance to combat wounded service members, their families, and families of those killed in action. The organization focuses on those involved in Opera ...
*
Food Lion
Food Lion is an American regional grocery store chain headquartered in Salisbury, North Carolina, that operates over 1100 supermarkets in 10 states of the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States (Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North ...
Feeds
*
Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill
Darden Restaurants, Inc. is an American multi-brand restaurant operator headquartered in Orlando. As of January 2022, the firm owns two fine dining restaurant chains: Eddie V's and The Capital Grille; and six casual dining restaurant chains: ...
*
Samsung
The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
*
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
peration: Deck the Walls
Recognition
In 2018, the foundation was recognized as the top charity for supporting the military, veterans and their families, based on accountability, transparency and financial reports. Charity Navigator, a US charity rating agency, has designated the foundation with a four star rating for 16 straight years in 2019.
See also
*
Naval Support Activity Bethesda
Naval Support Activity Bethesda — NSA Bethesda, NSAB, or simply Bethesda — is a military base of the United States Navy located in Bethesda, Maryland. NSA Bethesda is responsible for base operational support for its major tenant, the Walter ...
*
Ronald McDonald House Charities
Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) is an independent American nonprofit organization whose stated mission is to create, find, and support programs that directly improve the health and well-being of children.
RMHC has a global network of c ...
, a similar charity for civilians
References
External links
{{Commons category, Fisher House Foundation
Official websites
Medical and health organizations based in Maryland
Non-profit organizations based in Maryland
Organizations established in 1990