With its fresh, almost golden-painted exterior and well-manicured facade, the Fisher House at William Beaumont Army Medical Center, just down the hill from the main hospital, stands out among the otherwise institutional drab of middle Beaumont. Opened in 1994, it has served thousands of beneficiaries. (Photo by David Poe, USAG Fort Bliss)

CFC power of giving:
WBAMC Fisher House (CFC #48325) opens doors for military families far from home
 

By David Poe, USAG Fort Bliss

One thing that’s inherent about the military is that service usually takes you far from home. Duty stations, schools, and deployments usually lead troops and their family members to corners of the world they never considered, which, for some who have a sense for adventure, makes military appealing. 

But, sometimes, life can send families to places previously unknown, under less than adventurous conditions when medical treatment requires travel. Started in 1990, the mission of Fisher House Foundation Inc. is to lessen that sense of the unknown for military families who have put travel and service before the comforts of their hometowns and extended families. A network of 75-homes around the world given to military branches and the Department of Veterans Affairs, Fisher Houses, a Combined Federal Campaign-listed nonprofit, are residences to offer troops, veterans and retirees, and their family members a place of comfort while receiving medical treatment for as long as they are receiving medical care, and beyond if circumstances require, at no charge. 

With its fresh, almost golden-painted exterior and well-manicured facade, the Fisher House at William Beaumont Army Medical Center, just down the hill from the main hospital, stands out among the otherwise institutional drab of middle Beaumont. Opened in 1994, it has served tens of  thousands of beneficiaries receiving care at WBAMC, the El Paso Veterans Affairs Health Care System, or any local and regional civilian medical facilities. They also open their doors to U.S. Customs and Border Protection-affiliated individuals as well. 

Although the WBAMC Fisher House may be somewhere far from home for its guests, the eight-suite house is definitely a home. Walking through the foyer, guests will find less of a non-profit facility in a network of non-profit facilities, and more of a place where generosity works to remind guests that they are not alone in adverse times. Leading that welcome is Alice Coleman, the facility manager.

A proud military kid who became a military spouse and a military mom, as well as being a former service member herself, Coleman and her small staff and volunteer team are more friends and hosts than nonprofit facility managers. The house, which is normally always at least half full with guests, is beyond a hotel or other lodging because, aside from the lack of out-of-pocket costs for guests, Fisher House understands the military and staff members show their thanks by serving those who have served and their families.

“It’s your home away from home,” she said. “We make sure you’re as comfortable as possible … we make sure that you have the (community) connections that you’ll need.”

Coleman, who left a banking job six months before retirement for the chance to run the WBAMC Fisher House, echoes the larger organization’s commitment to service. Fisher House was started by Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher, philanthropists who through their foundation made significant contributions to serve American military families. Images of the pair subtly hang around the WBAMC Fisher House.

Coleman said staff members are federal government employees, but the generosity of donors and volunteers helps keep the WBAMC house operating. Volunteers from the Fort Bliss military community, such as students and staff from the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy, Soldiers from the Bliss Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers program, Fort Bliss Water Services personnel, and others, as well as volunteers from throughout El Paso and the Borderland frequently pitch in with donations and labor. 

Coleman encourages potential CFC donors to consider Fisher House this season because when times are tough, every person who has left home to serve in the military deserves the chance to come home to a Fisher House when needed.

“A majority of the healing comes from within the Fisher House,” Coleman said. “People run into each other in the kitchen, around the house or out on the porch. If your child is in the hospital and my child is in the hospital, what better way to communicate and understand each other better when people are going through the same things. The healing comes from within the house. 

“By contributing to Fisher House, you’re not only helping service members, but you’re helping retirees and veterans who have made it possible for you to be where you’re at today and their family members who have sacrificed so much for us to have our freedom,” Coleman said. “I can’t think of a better place to give to.”

The 2019 CFC drive is underway locally at Fort Bliss until Dec. 20. If you’re a service member, government civilian, or a military retiree, and you’d like to help Fisher House at WBAMC, or any of the approximately 20,000 nonprofits that benefit from CFC contributions, talk to your unit or office CFC project officer or visit https://cfcgiving.opm.gov/welcome.