JBLM’s second Fisher House offers a place for families to heal

Jodi Land hates to say “no” when a military family in medical crisis needs a place to stay. She’s the director of a nonprofit Fisher House on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and it pains her when the house is so full she can’t welcome more guests.

She’ll get to say “yes” a lot more in the years ahead. The Fisher House Foundation on Tuesday opened a second home for her to manage, more than doubling the number of families she can help.

“It’s going to be amazing,” said Land, who has helped military families at JBLM’s Fisher House for more than 14 years. “It’s built with love. It’s built with people giving up from their own lifestyles and family budgets to help others in a time of need.”

The new Fisher House at JBLM is the 66^th home the foundation has built for military families and veterans over the past 25 years. Each one stands on a major military installation or on the grounds of a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital, giving families a place to rest at no cost while their loved ones receive medical care.

The nonprofit estimates it has saved military families more than $282 million in lodging and transportation costs since 1990. When the homes are full, it often offers hotel vouchers so families don’t have to go into their own pockets in an emergency.

“We use the one we have now just about every day to capacity,” said Col. Michael Place, commander of Madigan Army Medical Center.

JBLM’s first Fisher House opened in 1992, providing rooms for up to seven families at a time. The new one, built over 13 months at a cost of $6 million, will add 11 more suites and an extra play room for children that families can use while their loved ones receive care at Madigan.

The new Fisher House is dedicated in the memory of the late Gen. John Shalikashvili, the former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman who retired to Steilacoom and served on the Fisher House Foundation board of trustees. Joan Shalikashvili, his widow, accepted a plaque honoring his contributions to the nonprofit.

“We’re giving you our best because that’s what military families deserve,” Fisher House Foundation President David Coker said at Tuesday’s ceremony dedicating the new building.

The Fisher House Foundation was established in 1990 by Zachary Fisher, a New York real estate investor, and his wife, Elizabeth. It is supported by private donations. As of last year, there were Fisher houses on 17 military bases and 5 VA centers.

Fisher Houses are known for developing a sense of community among families in dark times. In addition to private rooms, they offer common areas where people tend to take care of each other and make lasting relationships.

Staff Sgt. Ken Lambes, 54, of JBLM’s 42^nd Military Police Brigade turned to a Fisher House while he took his teenage son for special care at Landstuhl Army Medical Center in Germany two years ago. He and his family stayed at a Fisher House four times.

Lambes appreciated his time there so much that he dropped by JBLM’s Fisher House last week to invite families to his home for Thanksgiving.

The Fisher House “really makes the entire nightmare of medical treatment easier for those families,” he said.

JBLM’s Fisher House recently published a book of letters its visitors left for the nonprofit during the busy wartime years from 2001 to 2011. It shares stories of families coping with cancer, war wounds and complicated births.

A letter written in 2010 came from the family of an Oregon National Guard soldier who was wounded in Iraq.

“The Fisher House is … a beautiful bridge that makes bringing together a family so much easier even in heavy hearted moments of life. My husband’s stitches come out tomorrow and we get to take him home for two weeks, making a month that we have been able to be a family within arm’s length,” the letter reads.

“That’s the longest we have had since he deployed and our son was born. And it’s thanks to the Fisher House, the staff, volunteers and donations,” the letter says.

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 9:53 AM with the headline "JBLM’s second Fisher House offers a place for families to heal."