‘Home away from home.’ How the VA gave free housing to families at Lexington clinic

The Privett family had had a very hard day.

The benefits of the triple bypass surgery for Ronnie Privett Sr., a Vietnam vet, underwent in 2000 were beginning to fail. So, on a cold December day he drove with his wife, son and daughter-in-law the three hours from McCreary County to Lexington’s Veteran’s Administration emergency room. Once there, a maze of medical personal attended to Ronnie Sr. while the family tried to sort out where they would stay.

They were worried. “We can’t afford to go back and forth, motels are expensive and we’re on a limited income,” Ronnie Jr. said. His mother, Joan was looking at long nights on a recliner in her husband’s room.

Someone at the VA overheard them and said he thought he could help. That led the family to the Fisher House on the VA’s Leestown campus, where veterans, their families and loved ones can stay for free while they’re in Lexington for treatment. Easily mistaken for an expensive boutique hotel, with its beautifully decorated spaces, fine finishes and work by local artists, the Fisher House is a welcoming respite, they said.

Ronnie Jr. said he would have been grateful for a free room, no matter how simple, “but this is above and beyond ... so much beauty.”

“It’s like stepping into heaven,” his mother said.

Fisher House motto: ‘because a family’s love is good medicine’

“We just try to take everything off their plate,” explained Fisher House director Mike Neville. He and his four-person staff want the bedrooms and public areas, the well-stocked kitchen and spotless laundry room to become “a home away from home,” for veterans and their caregivers. Many guests stay only a day or two but some, particularly those who are there with a veteran in hospice care, stay as long as a month in one of the 16 available guest suites.

The motto at Fisher House is, “because a family’s love is good medicine,” and that’s the way Joan Privett sees it. If someone who is hospitalized knows their loved ones are in good hands, “they can heal quicker,” she said. When her husband learned his family could stay at the Fisher House, “his face just lit up.”

Lexington’s Fisher House, the 93rd in a system that serves military medical facilities throughout the U.S. and in Germany and England, opened in April 2023. Built by the national Fisher House Foundation on property on the Leestown campus, it’s now owned by the VA; Neville and his staff are VA employees. All the food provided at the home is either donated by area businesses (the Crank and Boom ice cream is a special guest favorite, Neville said) or purchased through the Friends of the Lexington Fisher House.

Sherman Smith and his wife, Jeanne, are among the families who count their blessings and their savings. They have made the 167-mile drive one-way from their home in Ransom many times for outpatient visits at the VA. “When you’re on a fixed income and not well-fixed that can become a major problem,” Sherman said. They would group as many appointments — primary care, dental, optometry, dermatology, etc., etc. — as close together as possible to minimize the number of costly nights in motels.”

Providing more than a place to stay

But it was an exhausting routine: “You get out of one (appointment), you’ve got a two-hour wait for another one, you hop in the car ... go back to the motel if you’ve got one ... you might have time to grab a snack before the next appointment,” and on it goes. “But with the Fisher House,” he said, “I’m right next door to the clinic.” And there’s no worry about grabbing a snack in the well-stocked kitchen. “It’s like going to the refrigerator at your grandmother’s house,” Sherman said.

But it’s more than the convenience, the good food and savings, Neville, a combat veteran of the Gulf War, explained. Guests often bond with each other during their stays. “They’ll talk for hours,” he said.

That’s certainly the case for the Smiths. “They all have stories,” Jeanne said about the other veterans they’ve met at the Fisher House. “I’ve met several guys, a couple we stay in contact with,” Sherman said.

Sherman Smith said it’s made him feel appreciated, at last. There were no parades “when I got back from ’Nam,” he said, “but when I walked in the door of the Fisher House, it was like the welcoming home reception that I never received.”

Fisher House

▪ The Fisher House system was founded in 1990 by Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher

▪ Lexington Fisher House has 16 guest suites and became the 93rd in the system when it opened in April 2023.

▪ Common areas: Library, dining room, kitchen, family room, laundry room

Requirements to stay

▪ Veterans must live 50 miles or more away from Lexington and be receiving care at the VA.

▪ They must be accompanied by an adult family member or companion who is capable of self-care.

▪ Income eligibility: No requirement for residence at the Fisher House.

▪ Call: 859-233-4511

Lexington Fisher House April through November

▪ Families served: 387

▪ Individual guests accommodated: 832

▪ Lodging days provided: 1,083

▪ Savings to families: $248,007