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HALEY HOUSE HELPS VETERANS' FAMILIES COPE --
Mary Ellen Harlan opened the Haley House in
Tampa
to give families of veterans a place to stay.
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http://www.sun-herald.com/Newsstory.
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Haley House helps vets' families cope
* The non-profit Haley House Fund in Tampa provides a place for the
families of active-duty service members and veterans who are receiving
treatment at the VA Hospital in Tampa. The house provides family members
a place to stay and tries to make them comfortable, while they help
their loved ones heal.
NORTH PORT -- For a small child, visiting dad in the hospital can be a
scary experience. When dad is an active-duty service member back from
Iraq and suffering severe injuries, a child can be truly terrified.
But in Tampa, there's a place where families of injured veterans can
find solace while comforting a family member through a difficult
treatment process. That place is the nonprofit Haley House, which serves
as a home away from home for the family of veterans.
The James Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa is one of only four
Polytrauma centers at VA hospitals in the country where veterans with
spinal cord injuries, severe burns or other traumatic injuries are
treated.
Mary Ellen Harlan opened the Haley House in 2005 to give families of
veterans a place to stay. On Tuesday, she spoke to the North Port Rotary
Club about her work.
"We're all family," Harlan said. "After 9/11, we learned that we have to
look after our own." She said no matter what your position on the wars
in Iraq and Afghanistan, "this is the price of freedom."
Family helps the healing
The VA hospital recognizes the benefit of having family members nearby
to help a veteran heal. Family is especially important in Tampa because
vets with extensive injuries require months of care and treatment.
Haley House is sort of a "Ronald McDonald House" for veterans' families
-- the spouses, parents and children of severely injured victims.
Harlan said Haley House not only gives them a place to stay but helps
with other aspects of daily life. "The house includes a TV and Internet
access, a kitchen and laundry facilities. It's all funded by private
donations and staffed with volunteers."
If the vet's family lives more than 50 miles (or an hour's drive) away
from the hospital, and has a financial hardship and cannot afford to pay
for temporary housing, Haley House can give them a place to stay.
"We know how hard it can be for the family, away from home and seeing
their loved one so badly hurt," Harlan said. "So we try to make it as
homey as we can."
They even provide toys for the children. Harlan said she has taken kids
to the aquarium or to the movies.
"We even had a birthday party for one little girl," she said.
Harlan talked about a 23-year-old veteran, who was severely injured in
Iraq when an Improvised Explosive Device blew up the tank he was in. He
was the only one of 10 who survived, but now is undergoing extensive
rehabilitation. "It's helpful for the healing process to have his family
there with him" Harlan said.
Harlan's work ranges from greeting veterans or their families at the
airport, transporting them to appointments, or just lending an ear to a
worried spouse. Since opening, Haley House has helped more than 500
people from newborns up to age 102, including some Sarasota County
residents.
She opened the house in honor of her late husband, also a veteran.
Harlan said the Rollx Van Co. of Minnesota has also helped by donating
one of their specially outfitted vans for Haley House to transport
wheelchair-bound vets.
For more information on Haley House, visit the Web site at
www.HaleyHouseFund.com , or
call 813-245-5261.
Fisher House opening soon
Another facility, Fisher House, will open later this year in Tampa.
Unlike Haley House, which is funded entirely by donations, Fisher House
was paid for by the Fisher Family Foundation. When completed, Tampa's
Fisher House, on the VA hospital campus, will be one of 39 in the
country to provide temporary housing for families of vets.
Paula Welenc, the Fisher House manager, said, "It cost $3.3 million to
build, and it will have 21 suites with bedroom and private bath.
Everything else -- kitchens, laundry -- will be communal."
The Fisher House organization also uses donations to buy air travel
tickets for family members to visit their veterans, and scholarships for
military children. The house will be given to the VA hospital when
completed. The hospital will pay for utilities, but private donations
are still needed to keep the home stocked with food, linens and other
necessities.
Haley House will continue to operate after the Fisher House opens.
For more information or to donate, visit
www.fisherhouse.org .
You can e-mail Susan Hoffman at
shoffman@sun-herald.com.
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Larry Scott
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