U.S. Bank has funded a $20,000 grant to Fisher House Wisconsin to support the construction of the nonprofit’s onsite facility at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee.
Fisher House, which has 58 locations across the U.S., in Germany and in England, provides housing for military and veterans’ families while service members recover from illness or injury.
“It really serves and fulfills a need that is often not talked about, but when it’s needed it’s very necessary and it really focuses on having a family’s love close to the recovery process,” said Dan Buttery, president of Fisher House Wisconsin’s board of directors and an Iraq combat veteran.
Buttery recently accepted the grant from U.S. Bank for the nonprofit at a check presentation held at the U.S. Bank building in Milwaukee.
The grant is a major step in helping Fisher House build the construction funds to establish Wisconsin’s first Fisher House, Buttery said.
The facility will enable families traveling long distances to Milwaukee to be with their loved ones recovering at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center, which currently serves 8,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans according to Fisher House. Veterans and families traveling more than 50 miles to Milwaukee will be able to stay at Fisher House Wisconsin for free on a temporary basis.
“This is a way to ease the burden at a very difficult time for these families, and in the case of Wisconsin, the VA here treats veterans here from really across the United States because of the level of care provided here,” Buttery said.
The level of care offered at Milwaukee’s VA Medical Center is quite superior, Buttery said.
In addition to assisting with the nonprofit’s funding efforts, the grant from U.S. Bank has helped the organization raise awareness of its mission and grow a community of support around its cause.
“We’re building community along with building a structure around this,” Buttery said. “It becomes a central point of support in giving back to these families and veterans as they’re going through a difficult time.”
Fisher House Wisconsin is still in the process of raising funds to build its new facility. The nonprofit aims to break ground on the construction project this spring.
For more information about Fisher House Wisconsin, visit www.fisherhousewi.org/.
