It is the honor of a lifetime that we get to meet so many remarkable and memorable individuals here at SECU Family House each and every day of the year. They include patients, caregivers, volunteers, meal providers, donors, board members, hospital staff, and even a myriad of delivery folks. Each one comes with his/her own unique history – a history that includes countless life experiences that impact so many far and wide, whether they realize it or not.

So, rather than feature a guest story in this month’s eNewsletter, we’d like to share just a few examples of what these many individuals mean to us as we recognize the 25,000+ guests and others who’ve graced our hospitality house since we opened our doors in 2008.

These individuals have taught us that a shared, homemade meal by one of our countless volunteer meal providers usually ends with new friendships being made. Getting a good night’s sleep in a safe place that feels like home is oftentimes the best medicine. Lending an ear and simply listening provides an important stress release. Kindness matters and pays itself forward when we’ve witnessed guests giving rides to other guests to the hospital or just giving directions to the local market. A board member drops off several cases of bottled water every Monday morning. Despite Covid-19, volunteers always ask what else they can do to help. One particularly moving moment happened a while back when a guest shared that she added the Family House staff to her church prayer chain. So many individuals have become our friends to the point where if we don’t see them for a while or if the mail carrier is on vacation, we truly miss them and want to know how they’re doing.  

While we strive to uphold the mission of SECU Family House each day, we could not have anticipated the positive impact that each individual has made in our own lives over the past 13-1/2 years. Our success could easily be measured by the number of satisfied guests who walk through our doors or by the funds raised to keep the lights on, yet it is because of these many cherished friends that we’ve become better at what we do best.