Local Organization Helps Families With Sick Loved Ones

Sunday, May 27th 2007, 8:58 pm

By: News On 6

It helps people in crisis, but now Tulsaâ€™s Hospitality House may be in crisis. The apartment complex takes in people who have loved ones in the hospital, but not everyone in need gets a room. So, The News On 6â€™s Joshua Brakhage reports the complex has plans to expand.

The apartment at Tulsaâ€™s Hospitality House has become Dee Crow's second home. He's switching off with his wife, taking turns babysitting their catering business back in Scottsdale, Arizona, and staying here where their baby girl, Vivian, is in the hospital.

"How big is she now"? asked News On 6 reporter Joshua Brakhage.

"She is almost ten pounds," answered Hospitality House visitor Dee Crow. "She was born at three-and-a-half."

He keeps in touch with his family and his business through e-mail. Every apartment is wired for Internet access, and volunteers take care of everything from laundry to meals.

"When you travel back and forth, you don't rest. You have the phone right there, and youâ€™re waiting anticipating a call. And being able to be just a few blocks from the hospital gives you such comfort," Hospitality House visitor Reta Hughes said.

Reta Hughes spent four months on-and-off at Hospitality House supporting her husband Jack while he battled cancer until the end. On-and-off because the demand for an apartment is so great. Hospitality House has a two-week stay limit, then families go back on a waiting list.

"I was always so happy when they called and said, 'we have a room for you'," Hughes said.

"That's heartbreaking. We know thereâ€™s many more families that need Hospitality House, and need a place to stay," Toni Moore with Tulsaâ€™s Hospitality House said.

Toni Moore says Hospitality House has given families from 15 states a place to stay, but there's always around 10 families on a waiting list. Moore says nearly half have to be turned away because a room doesn't open up in time. But she says those families that do call Hospitality House home become family.

"Lots of tears down here sometimes, but lots of smiles as well when we see families go home with healthy loved ones," said Moore.

It will be a bittersweet goodbye when Dee Crow goes home with little Vivian, but one everyone's looking forward to.

Hospitality House hopes to get rid of the waiting list soon. Toni Moore says plans are in the works to build a brand-new facility three times the size in the next three years.

For more information, visit www.tulsahospitalityhouse.org.

Watch the video: Organization Using Housing To Help Families Care For Sick Relatives