Fisher House breaks ground to help military families

SAN DIEGO (June 15, 2007) —  Groundbreaking began today on construction of a new Fisher House, a "home away from home" at Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) for the families of injured Service members. A $2.5 million contribution from TriWest Healthcare Alliance and $1.1 million from T. Boone Pickens will pay for construction.

The new 11-room Fisher House will allow family members to stay nearby as severely wounded warriors recuperate at NMCSD’s Comprehensive Combat Casualty Care Center (C-5).

"These Service members and their families are under a phenomenal amount of physical and emotional stress as a result of injuries sustained during their service to our country," said David J. McIntyre, Jr., President and CEO of TriWest Healthcare Alliance. "At TriWest, we feel privileged to do whatever it takes to help them in any way that we can, and this contribution demonstrates our appreciation for their ongoing sacrifice."

The C-5 program was pioneered by the NMCSD. It brings the warriors in transition closer to their family members who also need help in dealing with their loved ones when they suffer amputations, brain injuries or post-traumatic stress.

"These are families that make sacrifices; this program is designed to help them," Ken Fisher said during a recent CNN interview with Larry King. "It's not just families having a place to sleep, it's getting together and supporting each other on a bad day and sharing the joy on a good day."

Legendary oilman, and Chairman of BP Capital Management, T. Boone Pickens has donated $1.1 million from his charitable foundation.

"I find that the more generous I am, the more I get in return, and the more I get in return, the more generous I am," said Pickens in a recent speech at the Entrepreneurs Foundation of North Texas.

The Fisher House Foundation was started in 1990 by Ken Fisher's late uncle, Zack Fisher. When it was brought to Zack's attention that there was a shortage of affordable housing for injured Service members and their families, he decided to put the program together.

Zack Fisher built the first comfort homes with his own money. "Zack always believed that it was our obligation to give back to a nation that had been so great to us," Ken Fisher said. "Zack always considered Service members to be the greatest national treasure."

There are 37 Fisher Houses, with four more in construction or design. After the houses are built, they are gifted to U.S. government, which then maintains them. Fisher said the foundation works closely with the military to determine where a new house should be built.