Monthly Charity

Kathy’s House is a hospital guest house committed to providing affordable lodging and caring support in a “home away from home” environment for families who need to travel to Milwaukee for medical care. Kathy’s House is a vital resource in the Milwaukee healthcare community. Our home is a caring place where mutual support thrives. It is the only hospital guest house in southeastern Wisconsin that serves guests of all ages receiving care at all area hospitals. 

Our story starts with the selfless vision of a dying young woman. In 2000, Kathy Vogel Kuettner, 39, a wife with three small daughters, died of Burkitt’s lymphoma, a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. While she was in the hospital, she worried about someone else: another young cancer patient down the hall. Unlike Kathy, he was suffering alone because his family lived out of town and couldn’t afford to stay in Milwaukee to be with him. Before she died, Kathy asked her parents, Dick and Judy Vogel, to create an affordable place to stay to keep families together. Kathy’s parents were determined to bring her vision of a hospital guest house to life. They rallied friends and family to make it happen. Thanks to their relentless efforts, in July 2001, Kathy’s House opened in a leased building in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, dedicated to the memory of this kind, compassionate young woman.

As demand for our services grew, our 18-room house was frequently at capacity. Too often facing the heartbreaking decision to turn away guests and facing the expiration of our lease, we began to explore options for a new, larger building. In 2019, we announced our plans to build a new Kathy’s House on a site near Froedtert Hospital, where many of our guests receive medical treatment. Donors nationwide, from past guests to big companies, generously gave to our building project. In June 2021, we opened our new, 38-room house that we believe will be a national model for hospital guest houses. At 32,000 square feet, more than twice the size of our previous building, the new Kathy’s House doubles our capacity to serve guests.  The additional space and guest-supportive features help make it a welcoming, comforting respite—much more than just a place to sleep. Kathy’s House has become a critical safety net for people facing the stress of a serious illness. 

Each year, Kathy’s House is home to over 1,500 guests – people who come from many different states and represent different races, ethnicities, and cultures. At Kathy’s House, our guests listen, support, celebrate, and console each other. We are honored that our guests enter our House as strangers and leave as friends. As part of the healthcare community, we recognize the intersection of racism, social injustice, and health. Systemic inequities can limit access to healthcare services, fostering disparities in health that span generations. As a vital part of the SE Wisconsin healthcare supply chain, we are deeply committed to addressing these inequities.

Vision Statement

Become a replicable national model in the field of Hospital Guest Housing by developing a state of the art facility and delivering superior guest services which improve patient care and the healthcare delivery model.

Kathy’s House is a caring place where guests can eat, sleep, and be with others when they want – or be alone when they need time, introspection, and quiet healing.

A vital resource in the Milwaukee healthcare community, Kathy’s House is the only hospital guest house in the area that serves patients of all ages and their caregivers and serves all area hospitals.

Any patient receiving inpatient or outpatient treatment at a Milwaukee area hospital, along with their caregiver(s) is eligible to become a guest at Kathy’s House.

Give Your Time to Help Create Community

We invite you to find a place at Kathy’s House. Our volunteers are teens, adults, retirees, former guests, and community members. Whether you volunteer regularly or just once, your support is greatly appreciated.

Volunteering at Kathy’s House can be both memorable and rewarding. Because many of our volunteers serve guests directly, they have a unique opportunity to connect with guests. Often, a volunteer is the first voice guests hear on the phone and the first face greeting them at the door.

We have an opportunity for every skill set and schedule. The first step is completing an application here:

kathys-house.volunteerhub.com/vv2/