The facility is a joint venture between the medical center and the District 3 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
The VA Medical Center is located a few miles west from downtown Dayton, and there are few hotels located in the area of the facility.
“When someone is here at the hospital for major surgery, or they are in our intensive care unit or in our Hospice care, relatives often want to be here to support them,” Harriett said. “We are here to provide a place where relatives can stay overnight when they come from out of town. We ask for a minimal donation of $5 to stay here.”
The house was first opened 25 years ago in an old 1886 converted manse on the VA campus grounds. It is now designated as Building 220.
It has been fully restored and the grand opening of the remodeled facility was held in October.
In addition to Baker, the top volunteers who run the house include her husband, James Baker, and a veteran, Gary Braun. The home remains open 24 hours a day.
“We can accommodate about 25 people or families at a time,” Harriett said. “Our stairs are equipped with a lift so that anyone with problems getting up steps can sit down and ride up.”
Volunteers donate everything from coffee to toilet tissue to soap to paper towels. There is a kitchen available to guests, and a laundry.
Brown said, “One woman from Chillicothe was here because her brother, a veteran, was fighting terminal cancer. The two had no other family. The woman was able to be with her brother and to comfort him and console him during the last 15 days of his life.”
The hospitality center is officially known as the Andrew Kedlar-Jess Martin Hospitality House, named in memory of two veterans who fought for it 25 years ago.
This was the first such hospitality house located on VA grounds and operated by a service organization in the nation, Brown said.
For information, call (937) 258-6511, ext. 1022.
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