The homes are a place for veterans who are patients and for the families of in-patients facing extended medical treatments to stay without charge.
“When a veteran comes for care, many times they want to bring their family member, and if they don’t have the means to pay for that, we’re not allowed to use our federal dollars to get them a hotel room,” said Dayton VA Director Glenn Costie. “This fills a gap, I guess you could say, in the needs that our veterans have, and it’s a way that we can provide family housing for veterans while they’re getting care.”
The new Fisher House would be the third in the Dayton region.
Last year, the two homes at Wright-Patterson hosted around 1,110 families, saving them an estimated $1 million in lodging fees, Chris Stanley, executive director of the Fisher/Nightingale Houses Inc., at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
“We helped a lot families out there last year,” he said.
The Gunlocks explained their donation on Wednesday, Veterans Day.
“We’ve both always felt a sincere need to pay back our military veterans, their families for what they’ve done, because they really have sacrificed to give us the opportunity to pursue our dreams,” Randy Gunlock said. “This is a small way to pay back. We do not want to have this looked at as a gift, because it’s not a gift.”
“… It’s not about us and it’s not about our country as much as it’s about saying thank you to the men and women who do support us and all of our dreams,” Vicki Gunlock said.
The project is still a proposal, awaiting an endorsement from VA Secretary Robert McDonald, organizers said.
The Gunlocks’ donation put the project on a priority list for both the Fisher House Foundation and the VA, said Stanley.
“Dayton was never on the list,” he said. “It was the generosity of the Gunlocks that moved Dayton up to the top of the list. And the Fisher House Foundation is ready to make a commitment; they’re ready to go.”
“What happened here was the Dayton VA had a need, (and) the need was not going to be met anytime soon,” said Richard V. Reynolds, chairman of a fund-raising committee for the project and a retired Air Force lieutenant general.
Community donations to the newest home would pay for operational costs, he said.
Randy Gunlock, former president of RG Properties, was the developer of Austin Landing, a 142-acre retail and office building complex rising in Miami Twp. The Gunlocks also have contributed $6 million to Miami University, where Gunlock was a football team captain, to construct a new $27.5 million athletic training center.
Backers have selected three potential sites for the latest Fisher House, but a final decision has not been made. If the VA backs the project, construction would begin next year.
The opening would coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Dayton VA, which became a home for veterans two years after the end of the Civil War.
One to two VA staffers would run the Fisher House, but the Fisher/Nightingale Houses Inc., a non-profit charity, would pay operational costs, Stanley said. The nonprofit contributes about $180,000 a year to support the two homes at Wright-Patterson.
“It’s really the ability, if you’re going through medical care, to not have this thing in the back of your mind worrying about what’s happening to my family because there’s so much there to support them,” said Michael C. Mushala, a fund-raising committee spokesman and a retired Air Force major general.
The Dayton Foundation will have an endowment fund for the project. Checks may be made out to the Dayton VA Fisher House Fund #7748.
Donations may be sent to: The Dayton Foundation, 40 N. Main St., Suite #500, Dayton, OH 45423 or Fisher/Nightingale Houses, Inc., P.O. Box 33871, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433. Online donations may be made at www.daytonfoundation.org/DaytonVAFH.html.
The Fisher House Foundation has built 65 homes in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany. Seven more are under construction. The homes are located at military bases and VA medical facilities.
About the Author