One of 450 houses that provide for patients, families
By Harley Benda
Newsroom@DominionPost.com
Along with hospitality houses across the nation, The Rosenbaum Family House in Morgantown is celebrating Hospitality Week, which kicked off Sunday.
Kristi Crutch, vice president of the advisory board for the house, said it’s mostly a week for local community members to see what the house does.
“We are trying to tell the community about the importance of providing for these patients and their families,” Crutch said. “There’s over 450 hospitality houses nationwide with hospitals. So, we just want to make the community aware that it exists.”
The hospitality house, which is across the street from Ruby Memorial Hospital, serves adult patients and their families who are receiving treatment at WVU Medicine and live more than an hour away.
The cost for families is $25 a day, but they are not be turned away due to financial hardship. The house also can support 40 families at once and has helped 21,951 families since opening in 1999. Crutch said the house is not only a place to stay, but also offers food for guests.
“The main emphasis we have is providing meals,” Crutch said. “We try to provide a meal every night for 35 to 40 people.”
Many local community members usually volunteer their time to cook meals for the families staying in the house. But, with COVID-19 going on, volunteers cannot enter the building or cook meals for families. However, there are other ways to help families who are staying in the house.
“Right now, we are just taking monetary donations because [volunteers] cannot go into the Rosenbaum House. We have an Amazon wish list as well. We’re always in need of things like Lysol wipes, Keurig coffee pods, laundry detergent, liquid fabric softener, paper towels, any kind of paper plates, cups, plastic knives and forks — anything you would need in a kitchen or laundry area,” Crutch said. “They [patients and their families] are so appreciative of anything they can take.”
Donations can be made at the Rosenbaum Family Houses website, rosenbaumfamilyhouse.com/donate. You can also find their Amazon wish list by going to rosenbaumfamilyhouse.com/support-us.
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