Hospitality Homes opens doors for families in need

No one would argue the Boston area boasts some of the finest hospital facilities in the world. What's equally true is that the area features many high-priced hotels that may be out of the price range of those whose loved ones are receiving medical treatment in the city.

Hospitality Homes offers a solution.

Founded in 1983, Hospitality Homes is a program that places families and friends of patients in the homes of volunteer hosts willing to accommodate them for the duration of their stay in the Boston area.

"We've been in business for 26 years and have established a reputation in the Boston community," said Hospitality Homes Executive Director Caryl Goodman. "I always like to think of it as using community resources to meet community needs."

Goodman has been executive director of the program for one year, and like many of the program's hosts, was drawn to the organization for personal reasons.

"Several years ago, I had a personal experience of opening my home to my friend's relatives, who were traveling back and forth an hour and a half to a Boston hospital from their home," Goodman said. "I guess you could say that I was already committed to the program's mission before I even worked there."

Goodman said she planned a few "distractions" for the family while they stayed with her, and the time they spent together made a major difference to them.

"The guests are often going through rough times, and even a few minutes of fun or a quiet place to retreat to can mean a world of difference," Goodman said. "You're not there to solve their problems, but you can make them comfortable and provide them with a place to stay, which really helps."

Since its inception, Hospitality Homes has served nearly 12,000 families through more than 600 host locations. A total of 58 Boston-area health care facilities have treated patients who have benefited from the program.

Last year alone, 692 guests were housed in more than 100 host homes, and annually, more than 80 percent of guests have annual household incomes of $40,000 or less. Estimates from the Hospitality Homes Web site say that approximately $815,000 in hotel fees was cumulatively saved by guests who used the program last year.

Goodman said hosts have many different motivations for taking guests in, but all share the similarity of wanting to help people in need.

"Most people can relate to others having to travel long distances to get medical care," she said. "Hosts often understand and sympathize with their guests, and appreciate how having a safe place to stay that is close to the hospital can be good for their mental and physical well being."

One such example is Ewa Erdman, a Malden resident who first learned of the Hospitality Homes program roughly one year ago.

"I heard about the program by reading a letter to the editor in People magazine," Erdman said. "I remember thinking how obvious and how great an idea it was. If one of my children were at one of Boston's premier medical centers I would want to be there with them, and I certainly could not afford to live in a hotel for a long period of time."

Erdman did some initial research online before contacting Hospitality Homes. After participating in the host training and orientation process, she was ready to take in guests in her home.

"It's one of the only purely altruistic things that I can think of doing," Erdman said. "You just want to do it to help someone else. It's really a small effort on your part to do something huge for somebody else."

Erdman's guests were a couple from Maine who stayed with her for one night. Both the patient and her husband stayed with Erdman.

"They were wonderful people," Erdman said. "They told me all about their jobs and the labs they work in up in Maine. It was really interesting."

Having the patient stay with the host is not uncommon.

"Sometimes you have patients who are staying in the hospital for extended treatment, and in those cases just loved ones will stay with hosts," Goodman said. "In other cases the patients just need to be in the hospital for a certain amount of time during the day and are not required to spend the night. Every case is different, and we make sure the specific needs of the guests and the accommodation availability of the hosts are in line with each other."

A formal application for guests screens for specific needs, such as mobility or language issues, pet allergies and other factors that impact the match process, and includes a reference check to ensure that guests are appropriate for a host home. Guests must have a permanent home to return to and live far enough from the hospital that commuting is a burden.

"In addition to the application questions, our staff does a lot of very careful listening and uses their insights into an applicant's situation and personality to help guide the match process," Goodman said.

Hosts are contacted with possible placements and are free to accept or decline guests as their schedule or preferences allow.

The "upcoming placements" listing provided to host families details a wide variety of factors, from specific length of stay, number of children and adults needing lodging, certain details involving the patients medical situation and the hospital where the patient is to receive treatment.

The average length of stay for a guest, Goodman said, is 13 nights. She added some stays are only one night, while others can be as long as several months.

Given the diversity of the Boston area and it being such a coveted destination for medical treatment, guests come from a variety of foreign countries. According to the Hospitality Homes Web site, 42 percent of all guests in 2008 were from New York State or New England, 45 percent were from the rest of the United States, 9.5 percent were from the rest of North and South American and the Caribbean, and 3.6 percent (roughly 25 guests) were from Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

New hosts go through a training and orientation process, and staff members visit each host home to ensure comfort and safety and document the space available for guests. Hosts complete a profile questionnaire, which serves as a guide for staff making placements.

Whether or not to accept patients or children as guests, provide parking or kitchen use, and preferred length of stay are up to each host. Hosts notify the Hospitality Homes office of changes in their availability, such as vacations or personal house guests, and are also free to host as often or as seldom as they would like.

"We have hosts who welcome several guests a month and hosts who prefer to host less frequently," said Goodman.

While close to 700 host homes have been used since the program began, and 105 host homes are currently active, Hospitality Homes is always looking for new host families to add to their list. One area that is of particular interest, which has only had a few previous hosts in the past, is the Medford/Malden area.

Erdman, who lives in the west end of Malden, says she sees many benefits to having more host families in both cities. Her home specifically is a short walk to MBTA stations, and a bus comes to her street that can provide transportation as well.

"With such accessibility to pubic transportation, people can really go to any of the hospitals in the area," Erdman said. "Plus driving into the city on your own, especially for someone who is totally new to the area, can be a pretty daunting and challenging thing."

Hospitality Homes Associate Director Heather Davidson has been a West Medford resident for several years, and conducted Erdman's home visit. She agrees Medford and Malden are ideal locations for host families.

"West Medford, with its easy access to the commuter rail, and Medford and Malden, with easy access to public transportation and Interstate 93, are great locations for guests traveling into the city," Davidson said. "These would be perfect locations for guests visiting patients at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, for example."

In addition to Medford and Malden, host families are typically in high demand in Brookline, Cambridge and Newton, as well as any home within a 10-minute walk of a rapid public transportation line. Handicap-accessible homes are always beneficial, although not mandatory.

Goodman said guests learn about the program in a variety of ways, from social workers and hospital officials to the Internet and word of mouth. While there is no charge to stay in a host home, guests are encouraged to make a small donation to the program if they are able to, Goodman said.

Erdman said there are many things to consider before hosting guests, but that the host is always the one in control of what goes on in their own home.

"The host sets the tempo, but really there is very little 'work' involved," Erdman said. "For me, I have a room in my house that is just sitting there unused. Why would I just let it sit there when it could be put to such good use by someone in need?"

To learn more about Hospitality Homes, visit the program's Web site at www.hosp.org or call 617-482-4338.

Medford Transcript