A Little Free Press!

We got a little free publicity over the Thanksgiving weekend.  We don’t know if you saw it but the Richmond Times-Dispatch featured us in an article on the 24th.

Kristen Green wrote a very nice piece about us and the article featured some of our guests.  She spoke to Luiz Filho, who is staying with us following a near-fatal heart attack.  He has had an artificial heart and a full heart transplant.  He has had the benefit of family, even though his heart attack occurred 2,800 miles away from his Los Angeles home.  He was able to bring his wife and daughter to Richmond while doctors worked to improve his life.

Kristen also mentioned the twins, (recovering nicely from the surgery to separate them!) Maria and Teresa,  who were guests from the Dominican Republic.

Not everyone is from so far away.  Carol Hackett is from Virginia Beach.  She is one of our repeat guests.  She originally came to us during cancer treatment and stays whenever she’s in town for follow-up visits.  She has also become a kind of ambassador for us, reaching out to fellow guests, like Jimmy Hendricks.  Jimmy’s wife, Reda, is getting ready for a bone marrow transplant.  Jimmy and Reda are here from the Shenandoah Valley.  Carol helped to make sure that Jimmy was comfortable and was getting acclimated at The House.

Our volunteers bend over backwards to make sure that The Hospital Hospitality House of Richmond stays true to our motto of “A Place to Call Home.”  As one of the largest such Houses in the United States, we do that for over 7,000 guests per year.  While our doors are always open, our rooms stay pretty full.  We’re lucky to have the staff that we do, to have caring groups like the Junior League who show up to cook and hang out with our guests, and to have guests like Carol who have benefited from The House and are so quick to play a part in treating our guests like family.

We only have about 30 people actually on our staff, but last year our volunteers donated over 12,000 hours to help us keep things humming.  We “charge” $15 per day for folks to stay here, but we don’t turn people away over cost.  Donations from individuals, groups, and from events like SAVOR help us to keep our doors open to everyone.  We have to go shopping just like everyone else, but folks visit our wish list and frequently donate goods and items so that our guests can dine, do laundry, read, and play games.

Having the twins was a real treat for us and we’ve loved the fact that we were able to contribute to such an amazing project.  A special thank you to Kristen Green and The Richmond Times-Dispatch for the follow-up and for helping us to spread our story!  A little free publicity can go a long way!