“I think the universe is talking with you,” the colleague told Luse.
By July, Luse was leading the non-profit which supports three Fisher-Nightingale Houses, two on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and another on the campus of the Dayton VA Medical Center in West Dayton.
A registered radiologic technologist who owns a Cincinnati-area executive coaching firm, Luse has taken over from Chris Stanley, who retired from the non-profit’s helm earlier this year.
“I am so honored to be picked for this,” Luse said.
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Credit: JIM NOELKER
She leads a nonprofit organization that supports a trio of homes, with more than 30 bedrooms in three buildings.
Though the houses are located on military or VA properties, they rely on private donations for many of their operating expenses.
The homes temporarily shelter and support families of patients who are treated at the Wright-Patterson Medical Center (the Air Force’s second largest hospital) and the Dayton VA Medical Center.
Sometimes, the houses shelter families of patients who are receiving end-of-life or hospice care, with relatives coming together for some of their most wrenching moments.
They may have a thousand worries, but a place to stay — sometimes for several months — is not among them, thanks to the Fisher-Nightingale residences and their staff.
“It’s never ever a ‘no,’ for anybody who needs the services,” said Luse, a Covington, Ky. resident.
At these comfortable, spacious homes, families have access to well stocked kitchens, laundry facilities, transportation and more.
“We think of it as a minimum of $100 a night we’re saving families,” said Betsey Striebel, manager of the Dayton VA Fisher House.
“We’re trying to take care of everything while they’re here,” she added.
Luse is planning a May 2024 gala at Sinclair Community College as a Fisher fundraiser. She is searching for volunteers and corporate sponsors. Ways to contribute and more information on the Fisher mission can be found on the organization’s web site, www.fnhi.org/, and its Facebook page.
The home-away-from-home idea has been around for a while, locally and nationally. The first two local Fisher houses opened on Wright-Patt in 1994 and 2011, with the VA residence opening in the fall of 2018.
There are Fisher House Foundation homes at military and VA medical centers around the nation, able to serve some 1,300 families daily. Nationally, more than 450,000 families have been served, according to the foundation.
At the Dayton VA, about 250 families made the residence a temporary home in its first year of operations, then about 350 families the next year. While the pandemic slowed the pace of services, in the past year some 420 families have found shelter there.
The gratitude of guests comes through in ledger entries some write jleaving.
“Thank you so much for letting me stay,” one guest wrote. “You also made me feel so welcome at such a hard, trying time.”
Another family, whose father received hospice care, wrote: “Every single step of this difficult journey as been made more bearable by the staff and their kindness and the Fisher House amenities.”
“He didn’t heal — but we are starting to,” Luse said one family told her.
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