For three decades, Francisco Cruz has offered a friendly smile, a caring ear and a helping hand to military families with loved ones requiring treatment at area hospitals.
“Fisher House is more than four walls and a roof,” said Cruz, Fort Eisenhower Fisher House manager. “We’re a home away from home for military families – active duty, retirees and their dependents.”
The facility itself is constructed like a single-family, two-story dwelling that could blend easily into many area neighborhoods. Opened in April 1993, the home offers a place within walking distance of Eisenhower Army Medical Center. Families have also stayed there while their loved ones received treatment at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital and WellStar MCG Health’s trauma center.
Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher started building the houses in the early 1990s. The first one opened in Bethesda, Md., in 1991. Now, there are 90 homes. Families do not have to pay to stay at the Fisher House.
“This is one of the original ones that Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher donated 100% of their funds and built,” said Cruz.
Newer homes are built using funds from the Fisher House Foundation that are combined with other sources including grants and donations.
Cruz came on board after active duty. Still a member of the National Guard, Cruz was offered the job just as he was preparing for a deployment to Egypt.
He couldn’t make the initial start date, so he was offered another date. That one didn’t work either.
“They said ‘what day can you start?’ I gave them a date of three months later and came on board,” he said.
Serving as the house manager has been like an extension of his military service – a way to give back to his country and those who serve it, said Cruz, who has been the manager ever since except for a deployment to Iraq in the early 2000s with the National Guard.
During his career, he’s seen a lot of changes. With the influx of patients at both Eisenhower Army Medical Center and the VA Medical Center during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, there was talk about what to do for families.
The Fort Eisenhower Fisher House has seven bedrooms, plus a large kitchen, a dining room and a living room. There’s an ample yard with picnic spaces. But the house stayed at capacity during that time.
Cruz said there were talks about adding onto the house he manages, but it didn’t make sense. In the end, a new, larger house was built at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center uptown division. That house opened in 2011. The two area houses are the only Fisher Houses in Georgia.
COVID was hard on Fort Eisenhower’s Fisher House, Cruz said.
During the height of COVID, families had to social distance and were not allowed to share those common areas in the home.
“That really hurt our mission,” he said.
While Cruz and volunteers provide support to families, families provide support to each other, he said. That interaction is what makes the Fisher House different from other lodging facilities.
Sometimes, family members coming into the house are unfamiliar with military life, he said. They may not know the military lingo or how to maneuver military systems. Having people who do, such as Cruz, is another vital part of the mission.
Fisher Houses also rely on donations and community involvement, he said.
For many years, the Health Services Auxiliary held an annual golf tournament on post, but the organization disbanded after dwindling membership. When another veteran group tried to take it over, COVID hit and restrictions due to the pandemic cancelled the tournament.
Cruz said the house is slowly making a comeback from pre-COVID days.
While times have changed, Cruz said one thing has remained the same.
“We’re here to give family members support. Love is the best medicine of all. One of the concepts the Fisher House Foundation elaborates on is that family members giving support to their loved one will enhance the recovery…for that patient.”
To donate to the Fisher House, visit the Fisher House Foundation website and the Fort Eisenhower page here.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for 35 years. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
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