What does it take to provide a world-class experience for the guests at Kathy's House? It takes a lean and mighty staff, it takes committed volunteers and it takes all of our donors. Today we're hearing first hand from staff about their work, t...

Cindy Bielefeldt finds balance, joy and community in creating art. So much so, that when she found herself at Kathy’s House for 6 weeks while her husband was receiving treatment she started a watercolor painting class for other guests. 

Russel “Rusty” Konkol, is 70 years old, was born and raised in Amherst Junction, WI, population 377. He and his wife Linda, a retired nurse, raised 5 boys and a girl on the family homestead. Their sons all grew up to be pharmacists. Their daugh...

Sheila and Gerald, guests at Kathy's House, wanted to find a way to build community during their stay. They came up with bingo night, a monthly event to bring guests together to just have fun."I just wanted everyone to have a happy and ...

This year alone, thanks to our donors, we have supported 1,366 families. Each guest who stays with us experiences firsthand the wave of kindness and comfort from volunteers, staff and most importantly—from each other. So with the holidays upon ...

Renee Stadler, a Kathy's House volunteer for sixteen years, shares her experiences as a volunteer and a caregiver. While volunteering, she worked as a respiratory therapist, as a teacher of the next generation of therapists, and raised two daug...

Alyssa, Jackie, Jen and Dr. Dan Heffez, neurosurgeon with the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network, join us on the podcast. The same diagnosis brought them to Milwaukee for brain surgery at three separate times. ...

This past March, the Kathy’s House board of directors announced that Kim Lamansky joined the organization as its new President & CEO. Lamansky brings...

Cascading encouragement are the words Tom and Carol Titzkowski use to describe the feeling at Kathy's House. They join us from their home in Combined Locks, located about 30 minutes south of Green Bay, Wisconsin. When Tom’s treatment plan for c...

Security may be defined by the state of being free from danger or threat, but we all know it’s so much more than that – especially at Kathy’s House. Louise Kidd, security officer at Kathy’s House, offers us a peek at her responsibilities and th...

Don and Marsha Wilkinson were guests of Kathys House five years ago. To celebrate the milestone, and in gratitude of Kathy’s House, they came back with their daughter Cindy and granddaughter Jenny, to visit and pay it forward by making dinner f...

Karla Peyreau made plans to travel to Milwaukee for cancer care and arrived at Kathy’s House with her brother Mark in June 2023. Despite the unusual journey, moments into her tour, she knew she had landed in the right place.

Staff and volunteers share notes of thanks from former Kathy's House guests. Every guest confronts a unique diagnosis. Their stories are often extraordinary. We are honored to be a part of their journey and to share their stories and gratitude....

Diane and Tom Arenberg join us from their home in New Mexico to share their experience at Kathy's House, from cooking to painting and watching the sun set from the porch.

Peter Ackell joins us from Appleton, Wisconsin, to talk about his stays at Kathy's House. As a recently retired physician, he brings the unique perspective of his journey with cancer.

Our 2023 Founders Award Winner and Past Board President Marilyn Thiet, explains how her initial involvement with Kathy's House evolved as she stewarded the organization through its most notable transformation. Marilyn led the board through the ...

Hollie Mealy started The Right Relief, a nonprofit organization that brings relief to caregivers in the form of home-cooked meals and other doses of support.  In only a few short year...

Receiving a life saving bone marrow transplant usually means having to be hospitalized for months. For a few fortunate enough to live within 30 minutes of  a major cancer center, bone marrow transplants can sometimes be performed on an out...

Dr. Nirav Shah is an oncologist with the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Network. He specializes in treating individuals with blood cancers who often require complex long-term hospitalization. It's not uncommon for his p...

Natalie McAndrew, RN, and Ellie Englebrecht join us to talk about the bone marrow transplant caregiver’s support group they’re offering at Kathy’s House. When the doses of chemotherapy or radiation needed to cure a cancer are so high that a per...

Denis and Cathy VandenHeuvel, from De Pere, Wisconsin, and recent guests of Kathy’s House, sat down to share their thoughts about their time there. They spend 6 weeks at Kathy’s House in 2022 while Denis underwent treatment for a rare cancer. C...

Before Kim Maclin, RN, became the Director of Lab & Infusion Services with the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Network, she was a nurse caring for cancer patients at Froedtert Hospital. One of the many individuals sh...

Dr. Malika Siker, is a radiation oncologist with the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Clinical Cancer Network, associate professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and serves on the board at Kathy's House. Dr. Siker explains...

Lorraine Kofler has been a volunteer at Kathy's House for more than a decade. She explains why her time with guests and their caregivers is both memorable and rewarding. Because many of our volunteers serve guests directly, they have a unique o...

Matt traveled from Naples, Florida to Wisconsin in February, 2022, to visit family and friends, attend a funeral and play hockey with his buddies. What started out as a vacation turned into a diagnosis of leukemia, a six-week hospital stay, and...