John Balzer

Kathy's House is a nonprofit 501(c)3 hospital guest house committed to providing affordable lodging and caring support in a "home away from home"​ environment for families who need to travel to Milwaukee for medical care. Our first 18-room guest house opened in 2001, in memory of Kathy Vogel Kuettner, a local wife and mother who had lost her battle with cancer the previous year. Due to overwhelming demand, we opened a new facility with 38 guest rooms in 2021. Our New Home for Healing is located on the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center campus, footsteps from Froedtert Hospital's Center for Advanced Care. The home's design is intentionally rooted in the 8 Dimensions of Healing as defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 2022, we provided more than 10,000 nights of lodging to families who are facing a medical crisis. Most (67%) are battling cancer, but guests also require cardiac, trauma, neurological, organ transplant, and surgical care. Seventy-five percent of guests cannot afford the full cost of their stay, but 90% of them contribute. We receive no government funding. No one is turned away for an inability to pay. Our vision is to be a replicable national model in the field of Hospital Guest Housing by developing a state of the art facility and delivering superior guest services which improve patient care and the healthcare delivery model.