FISHER HOUSE - HELPING MILITARY FAMILIES

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When a suicide bomber exploded himself alongside Ty Ziegel's patrol near al-Qaim, Iraq, in December 2004, the fireball caused third-degree burns on the young Marine's entire face, left arm, and right hand. Ziegel suffered severe head trauma�part of his skull is now plastic�and lost his left hand, as well as two digits on his right hand. These are signature wounds from Iraq and Afghanistan, and Americans injured in those wars now require more medical attention than ever before. While this places a significant demand on our military's medical system, an emotional and financial weight falls on the service members' families, people such as Ziegel's fiance, Renee. To be with their wounded loved ones, family members often fly across the country, leaving behind their lives, jobs, mortgage payments everything. Providing free lodging for these military families became a mission for my uncle Zachary, who opened the first Fisher House in 1990 in Bethesda, Maryland, to house the families of sailors recovering at the National Naval Medical Center.

Since then, we've built 38 houses near military hospitals, which have provided 2.5 million nights of lodging and saved families about $90 million. Our latest design, like the house we opened in Tampa, Florida, this past August, measures approximately 16,000 square feet and has 21 rooms, yet it's unlike a hotel in that each house features common areas that allow the families to interact. By eating together and talking with one another, they develop a support system and can coach each other through their difficult circumstances.

We're a public-private partnership. The government donates the land, and the local communities often raise half the money for construction. The rest comes from national fund-raising and donations from my family, which has been in the construction business for several generations. Each Fisher House costs about $4 million once it�s fully furnished. After construction, we give each house to the branch of the military or VA that it serves; they assign managers and volunteers to care for the houses. I dedicated my first house in 2001 at Lackland Air Force Base, in Texas, and it changed me. Before that, my uncle and my father had run the foundation and I'd had little contact with military families. Now I feel like I've done something worthwhile with my life.

Four thousand families of combat casualties have stayed at Fisher Houses since Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom began. Ty's fianc�e, Renee, was one of those people. She stayed with Ty's mother in our San Antonio Fisher House for nearly 19 months as Ty faced his recovery with the same courage he had carried into combat. The two married, and Ty later cut the ribbon at the two new Fisher Houses in San Antonio, both of which specialize in treating burns. Ty represents the kind of men and women who are in the military. They're all volunteers who serve their country because they believe in something larger than themselves, and they ask for nothing in return. It's up to all of us to see that they're taken care of when something bad happens.

YOUR TURN: How you can help military families offset the costs associated with debilitating injuries

Support Fisher House Charity Navigator, an independent evaluator, has bestowed Fisher House with a four-star rating, its highest designation, because about 96 percent of Fisher House's budget goes directly to their programs rather than fund-raising or administrative expenses. Supporting Fisher House with a donation now will fund its most aggressive expansion yet. fisherhouse.org

Buy Newman's Own The Newman's Own Awards - a partnership between Newman's Own foods, Fisher House, and the Military Times Media Group support volunteer organizations focused on helping military families. In eight years, $432,000 went to 99 volunteer groups such as Sew Much Comfort, an organization that makes custom clothing for injured service members. fisherhouse.org/programs/newmans

Donate a Calling Card A partnership between the American Legion and the Fisher House Foundation has provided $50,000 worth of prepaid calling cards to personnel receiving medical care at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, in Germany. The largest military hospital outside the continental United States, it serves as a stopping point for many soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. legion.org

Contribute Your Unused Frequent-Flyer Miles Operation Hero Miles, a partnership between Fisher House and 10 airlines, uses donated frequent-flyer miles to purchase tickets for families traveling to military hospitals. Since 2004, the program has purchased 11,000 tickets the equivalent of nearly 650 million donated miles and saved military families $14 million. heromiles.org

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