News 2000 - Helping Hand to Families of Patients

Fox Chase Cancer Center and Hosts for Hospitals Offer A Helping Hand to Families of Patients

PHILADELPHIA -- Fox Chase Cancer Center has partnered with Hosts for Hospitals, a non-profit organization based in Merion, PA, to help the families of cancer patients.� Hosts for Hospitals offers free or low-cost housing for out-of-town families of patients receiving care at medical facilities in the Philadelphia area.

Local residents, who have a spare room in their home, volunteer to serve as hosts to the patients' families.� The hosts live within easy access to hospitals.� They provide a clean and comfortable place to stay as well as directions to their home, the hospital and area grocery stores, restaurants and other helpful places.

To be accepted into the program, volunteer hosts must undergo a screening process and a home visit with someone from Hosts for Hospitals.

Guests must meet several criteria to participate, which include:

living so far from the hospital that commuting is difficult;

having a permanent home to return to;

and being an important support person for the patient receiving medical care at a Philadelphia area hospital.

Guests must also provide a personal reference as part of the application process.

The program is modeled upon the Boston-based Hospitality Program which last year alone provided over 7,700 nights of lodging through its network of 150 hosts.

For more information about this service or to volunteer as a host, please call Hosts for Hospitals at (610) 660-6667 or e-mail at Hfhospitals@aol.com.

Fox Chase Cancer Center, one of the nation's first comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute in 1974, conducts basic and clinical research; programs of prevention, detection and treatment of cancer; and community outreach. For more information about Fox Chase activities, visit the Center's web site at: www.fccc.edu.