The Home Hospitality Program is made up of Gainesville residents willing to share their homes with people whose family members are staying in local hospitals. Social workers refer families to United Way Information and Referral, which refers them to Scruggs and the Home Hospitality Program. Hosts decide when and how they'd like to share their homes. It's up to you. She was recently a host for Rosa Chavarrin, left, and her mother, Esperanza Leija, right, who were visiting Jose Leija, Esperanza's wife and Rosa's father, who was hospitalized at Shands.
Nobody can afford a hotel room for months at a time.
You can always say no if someone calls at an inopportune time. And even if you don't have space, I'm sure somebody would be happy if you offered them a couch. Opening her home comes naturally to Scruggs. It's something she and her former husband of 39 years, Bill Scruggs, did their entire married lives. All you can do is gain.