The American Cancer Society announced Wednesday plans for new free community-oriented housing in Jacksonville for cancer patients and their families receiving cancer treatment from health care facilities far from home.
Construction of the new Hope Lodge will be financed with a pledge of $9.6 million from the the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation.
Dick Schulze, the foundation's founder, said that the Hope Lodge helps cancer patients in multiple ways.
“These Hope Lodges are really miraculous in the way they help people’s attitude, their demeanor, their spirit, all uplifts." he said. "Because they can connect side by side with others who share the very same journey.”
Just last year, Hope Lodges offered housing to 43,000 cancer patients and their caretakers across the country. Because it is free, $38 million dollars were saved all together by the patients and their families in living expenses from other housing arrangements.
Jacksonville’s Hope Lodge will be built on Mayo Clinic’s Florida Campus. The Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation has also donated 1.1 million dollars to help renovate the Hope Lodge in Tampa.
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