A comfort home for families of wounded military members was dedicated Friday morning on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, joining more than 50 other comfort houses across the world. Alaska's Fisher House gives military families a free home away from home to support their loved ones while they recover from a medical crisis.
The Fisher House is open to current military members, veterans and their families. Fisher House Foundation Chairman and CEO Ken Fisher says the Fisher Foundation was started by his uncle, in an effort to help military families.
“It eases a financial burden that they don't need right now,” Fisher said. “It eases their stress because in the house, it forms a support system.”
The 10,000-square-foot, $5 million house has 12 suites with handicapped-accessible bathrooms, plus a large common area, kitchen, dining room, family room and patio.
Fisher House officials say the five-star stay is aimed at easing military families’ pain at some of the difficult times in their lives.
“The goal there is to take off that one piece of worry for folks who are dealing with one crisis or another,” says Jeff Temple, the manager of Alaska's Fisher House.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz, a speaker at the ceremony and a former head of the Alaskan Command, said the facility would help the state keep faith with its military community.
"And making sure that the promises given to those military members and those veterans in Alaska are kept today, tomorrow and in the years ahead," Schwartz said.
Senior Airman Joshua Crawford, who is stationed at Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks, and his wife Rachael are Fisher House's first guests. They have been staying there since Jan. 5, while their newborn daughter fights a rare abdominal condition.
“Anything that's close to home is going to help us out,” says Rachael Crawford. “Just being able to go out and get a snack in the middle of the night is just a good feeling.”
“It's like home,” Joshua Crawford said. “It's the closest to home we're going to get without being home.”
For generations, New York's Fisher family has considered it their duty to give back to the armed forces. Military funds, local fundraising, and Fisher Foundation support cover the home’s ongoing costs.
Fisher House accepts donations on its website.
