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Fisher House Foundation
“Because a Family’s Love is Good Medicine”
Key Messages
1. Fisher House’s motto is “A Family’s Love is the Best Medicine.” Doctors have attributed many accelerated and unexpected patient recoveries to the presence of a service member’s or veteran’s family or caretakers.
2. Our “homes away from home” offer welcoming and free temporary lodging so military and veterans’ families can remain together while their loves ones receive specialized medical care at military and VA medical centers around the world.
3. Today there are over 70 Fisher Houses located at VA and DoD hospitals. On any given night, more than 950 families can be staying at a Fisher House.
a. For 25 years, Fisher House has been dedicated to meeting the needs of our Nation’s wounded, injured and ill service members and their families. Since
1990, our impact on military families has been profound:
b. 71 Fisher Houses operate around the world
c. 277,000 military and Veteran families served
d. 7 million days of free lodging
4. There are other ways every American can support military families through the Fisher House Foundation:
a. Hero Miles: Provides airline tickets to wounded, injured and ill service members and their families in support of their continued recovery process. This is
done with donated frequent flyer miles—even 1,000 miles makes a difference.
b. Hotels for Heroes: Provides free hotel rooms to military and Veteran families whose loved one is being treated at a DoD or VA hospital when a Fisher
House is either full or unavailable. This is done through donated hotel points.
5. A long-term stay in a military hospital, often thousands of miles from home, can lead to unmanageable burdens and extensive expenses for family members needing to be a part of their loved ones healing process. Since 1990, Fisher House has saved families $320 million. The bottom line is, no one will have to miss being with their loved ones due to money and everyone who stays at a Fisher House stays for free.
6. There are 140 VA hospitals but only about 40 have Fisher Houses. In order to continue funding the building of these facilities, we need local contributions.
7. Zachary Fisher and his wife started the Fisher House Foundation in 1990. Mr. Fisher asked the Chief of Naval Operations, what he could do for U.S. service members. When told that there was a need for temporary housing for families of inpatient personnel at Department of Defense (DoD) hospitals, Mr Fisher replied, he would do it if he could build and furnish as if they were guests in his house.
8. The Fisher House Foundation has been rated in the top 1% of all charities. It is nationally recognized as a premier non-profit with a four star Charity Navigator rating for 13 years straight and an A+ from the Charity Watch.. In 2014, CNBC rated the Foundation as the #1 veterans’ charity in the United States.
9. VA and Fisher House Foundation have validated the need for two Fisher Houses to be built on the campus of the new VA Medical Center at Lake Nona. As of now, there is only one facility planned. It will be 13,000 square feet and have 16 bedrooms. The Fisher House Foundation is financing the $6,000,000 project but is asking the local community to meet it half way in funding it by raising $3,000,000. This in turn provides start-up funds for other Fisher Houses. Once complete, Fisher House will turn over the facility to be owned and operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Lake Nona. It is an expensive project due to the commercial standards, not residential, building codes (fire proof doors, commercial grade appliances etc…) and the first class furnishings.
10. Ground breaking was Nov. 30, 2016. Ribbon cutting will be sometime in Fall 2017. When the Fisher House is completed, it will be turned over to VA who will then fund the daily operations.
11. Fisher Houses are built to last decades and will continue to offer comfort and support to Veterans and military families for many years to come. It is the gift that keeps on giving.
12. Friends of Fisher House Orlando is a local organization started in 2016. It was established to raise capital funds to help pay for the building. Once the Fisher House is built and the capital funds raised, Friends of Fisher House Orlando will assist the Fisher House by coordinating volunteers and continuing to raise funds to make supplemental purchases that the government is not authorized to do (e.g. a swing set for children of patients etc…).
13. Those interested in donating can find additional information at the Friends of Fisher House Orlando website: www.orlandofisherhouse.org or the Fisher House Foundation website www.fisherhouse.org.
Donors can contribute through the Friends of Fisher House Orlando website or they can also make out a check to Fisher House Foundation or Friends of Fisher House Orlando and mailing address provided on either website. It is asked that any donation made directly to Fisher House Foundation be specified as a donation for the Orlando Fisher House capital campaign. Please call me if you have any questions you cannot answer (407) 603-6693 or (901)-438-7734.
For additional information see the attached brochures.
