A Dedication Celebration and Open House was held Tuesday, October 18th for SECU Family House on the Richard J. Reynolds III and Marie M. Reynolds Campus in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines, SECU Foundation Chair Shirley Bell, Dr. Duncan Hite with Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and Dr. Pat Healy of Forsyth Medical Center addressed the group of attendees, which included many community volunteers along with representatives from both Medical Centers, SECU Family House and State Employees’ Credit Union. The dedication and a formal blessing of the home by chaplains from each Medical Center was followed by an Open House for attendees to tour the hospitality home, which officially opened to guests in late September.
SECU members were instrumental in the completion of the facility, as they provided a $2 million SECU Foundation challenge grant, which spearheaded the fundraising efforts for the project. This is the second North Carolina hospitality house funded in part by the Foundation – the other is located in Chapel Hill, N.C. SECU Family House in Winston-Salem is a 45-room facility equipped with private rooms, family rooms, laundry services and a public kitchen to offer affordable and comfortable lodging for families of out-of-town adult patients being treated at Wake Forest Baptist and Forsyth Medical Centers. Families are referred to SECU Family House by their doctors, and the fee to stay is a $35 per night donation; however, no one is turned away if they cannot afford to donate.
SECU Foundation Board Chair Shirley Bell spoke at the ceremony and commented, “It is very exciting to be on hand to celebrate the dedication and opening of this beautiful home. On behalf of the SECU Foundation and SECU’s 1.7 million members, we are thrilled to see SECU Family House already serving families in need of a caring and supportive place to stay while loved ones are being treated at the local medical centers. This place certainly embodies the Credit Union ‘People Helping People’ philosophy.”
“We really wanted to create a warm and welcoming space that would foster support for our guests, and this house is a dream come true. We are sincerely appreciative of SECU members and their Foundation for the generous financial support that helped our vision become a reality. Our community has rallied together for this project and we are thrilled to celebrate with so many who have sacrificed time, money and effort for this wonderful hospitality house,” said Kathy Carr, Executive Director of SECU Family House.