SECU Family House Opens to Patients and Loved Ones
After a year and a half of construction, and seven years of fundraising, planning, and preparation, SECU Family House opened to guests on March 31. In our first eight weeks of operation, we have served 178 individual patients and families, and provided a total of 1098 guest stays to 353 guests (including 44 children) from 54 counties in North Carolina and beyond.
Families are absolutely thrilled to be staying in such a beautiful, spacious “home away from home.” They have been moved to express their gratitude and appreciation to the staff in a multitude of ways. One guest gratefully exclaimed upon checkout, “This is the best thing that has happened to me in a long time. I feel like I have been staying at a resort – only better, with new friends.”
Guests have demonstrated a sense of pride and ownership about Family House, treating it the way they would their own favorite possessions. They have served as an intimate community to one another, sharing the responsibility of cooking meals, cleaning, and making coffee for other guests in the morning. Some have gathered together for prayer or reflection. Others have huddled in the hearth room, swapping stores, fears, hopes, and dreams, and exchanging the day’s medical news – the heartbreaks and triumphs. They have been each other’s best support.
Reflecting on the first weeks of being open, Operations Manager Janice Ross says, “It is gratifying to see what a difference this House is making. People have cried with relief and gratitude. It is wonderful to be here.”
SECU Family House looks forward to accommodating more guests in the future as we expand our capacity to serve families in desperate need of a uniquely peaceful and welcoming place.