Thanks to their incredible financial gifts and tireless involvement, more families will be able to stay in comfort near their loved ones. Cancer patients in Northern Michigan have to drive 200-300 miles daily for therapy, often in extreme weather conditions. Beacon House in Marquette, Michigan, is an eight-room home which gives a cancer patient refuge after an intense day of treatment. Hugs by volunteers restore a sense of balance to patients undergoing medical tests and chemotherapy. Facing similar situations fosters the strength and hope guests need.
Home is where the heart is HHHs can exist wherever someone rolls out the welcome mat.
Tanya Sheppard of New York City was on a business trip in California when she went into pre-term labor and gave birth to her son, Nicholas. Weighing only two pounds, he needed to remain in the neonatal intensive care unit for six weeks. Tanya's employer canceled her hotel reservations, so when discharged from the hospital, Tanya had no place to stay and little money to spend. Cricket Oldham, a social worker, contacted Marchelle Elliott of The San Gabriel Valley Hospitality House in Pasadena for help. Though the Hospitality House had not yet opened, Marchelle linked Tanya with Stephanie Morris, a caring person willing to take Tanya into her own home during Nicholas' hospitalization.