Fisher Houses ease financial burden, stress

Fisher Houses ease financial burden, stress
By Clay Carey, USA TODAY
Carol Thomas had gotten used to sleeping on recliners and hospital couches every once in a while as her husband, Bobby, got treatment for kidney and heart problems at the Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Affairs Hospital near Chicago.
But when doctors discovered cancer and had to remove Bobby's kidneys, the Glenwood, Ill., couple learned they would be in for an extended stay.

Instead of hospital couches, Carol said she now has a real bed at a home made for families such as hers while doctors work on her husband, a 64-year-old Army veteran who served in Vietnam.

That's because an organization called Fisher House opened a facility near the Illinois hospital in March — the most recently opened of 45 houses across the country that offer free lodging to veterans who have to travel more than 50 miles to get treatment at government-run Veterans Affairs hospitals, said Cindy Campbell, community liaison with the national Fisher House Foundation. Their families can stay for free, too.

"It has really been a home away from home," said Carol Thomas, 56. She has been staying there since late April. "Without them, I don't know what we would do."
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Fisher Houses ease financial burden stress