Good Neighbor Podcast: Rochester

EP#143: Hunter Hospitality House with Tracy Willard

• Lisa

Share episode

Tracy Willard shares the touching story behind Hunter Hospitality House, which provides free lodging to people with hospitalized loved ones or those receiving medical treatment. Founded in memory of their premature son who lived just 16 days, Tracy and her husband have opened three homes near Port Huron hospitals, each launched on what would have been Hunter's birthday.

• Three fully-stocked homes located across from both hospitals in Port Huron
• Everything provided completely free regardless of length of stay
• Transportation services included for guests
• Founded in 2011 after Tracy experienced firsthand the exhaustion of commuting to visit her hospitalized newborn
• Annual "Hope Blooms" fundraiser happening April 24th at Blue Water Convention Center
• Various sponsorship levels available for businesses and families (starting at $50)
• Tickets selling quickly with attendance capped at 700

For more information about Hunter Hospitality House or to purchase tickets for the Hope Blooms event, visit HunterHospitalityHouse.com, call 810-824-3679, or email hunterhospitalityhouse@gmail.com.


Speaker 1:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Lisa Swiftney.

Speaker 2:

Hi everyone and welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. This is episode number 143. And with me today I have Tracy Willard and she is with Hunter Hospitality House. How are you doing today, tracy?

Speaker 3:

I'm great. How are you?

Speaker 2:

I'm doing really well. Thank you so much for being a guest today.

Speaker 3:

My pleasure.

Speaker 2:

So tell our listeners what is Hunter Hospitality House.

Speaker 3:

Well, hunter Hospitality House is an organization my husband and I co-founded in 2011. And our organization has three homes now conveniently located across from both hospitals in Fort Huron, and people can stay in the homes if they have a hospitalized loved one or treatment of their own for cancer, or even the night before a surgery or procedure. Everything is free, it's fully stocked and there's just nothing you would need when you're there, and we provide transportation as well.

Speaker 2:

That is amazing, and I was lucky to have a tour last week, so that was really fun. Tell our listeners about your journey. How did you get started? Why did you create Hunter Hospitality House?

Speaker 3:

Well, it's actually called Hunter Hospitality House in memory of our second son. We had four boys in five years and the second of those sons was born prematurely in 1991, and he lived just 16 days. So I had that experience of being released from the hospital before he was and driving back and forth to see him and feed him, and I lived right in town. But the distance didn't really matter, because when you're exhausted and emotional and you hit the road, you might as well be drinking because you are not safe for yourself or others. And following his passing, we just really wanted to memorialize his life in some way that would help others who were going through a similar situation. So that first house across from Port Huron Hospital, which is now McClare in Port Huron, opened on what would have been Hunter's 20th birthday in 2011. And then, two years later, we opened the second, also on his birthday, and in 2020, we opened the third location, also on his birthday.

Speaker 2:

Wow, so tell us a little bit more about your organization. I know that you have an event coming up.

Speaker 3:

Yes, so Hunter Hospitality House exists solely on donations, and we never charge a guest. No matter how long your stay is or what your circumstances are, everything is provided to you for free. But, of course, we have three homes and our own bills, and so we have an event each year called Hope Blooms, because, really, hope Blooms for the guests who stay at Hunter Hospitality House in hopeless situations. They come to us and find that we're there welcoming them and helping them out, that we're there welcoming them and helping them out. So it's a fundraiser banquet at the Blue Water Convention Center on April 24th, and there's an optional early entry time at 4.30, but you can just come at the dinner time, which is 5.30, and stay. Stay till the end of 730. So it's a really short fundraiser. You do have to have tickets in advance, though, and there are sponsorship opportunities, and that big fundraiser is really imperative for us to be able to keep our services free.

Speaker 2:

That is good. You said there are sponsorships available. What are you looking for, or who are you looking for, for sponsors available?

Speaker 3:

what are you looking for, or who are you looking for, for sponsors? Well, we would love to partner with businesses and families who would like to give us a sponsorship, and that is a special donation above and beyond the price of a ticket. And with those sponsorships you get increasing amounts of publicity. So they go as low as the raffle sponsorship at $50, which would have your business name on a raffle prize, and as high as the diamond level at $2,500, which would have your business name on a radio ad.

Speaker 2:

Oh wow, that is great too. So lots of opportunities for businesses to sponsor your event, your event you said it's coming up at the end of April. Ticket sales Did you guys sell out last year?

Speaker 3:

the ticket sales are even more brisk and we want to cut it off at 700 so that there's still lots of room to walk around in that big room at the convention center.

Speaker 2:

So hurry hurry, yes, hurry up, get your ticket. Contact you. So our listeners want to learn more, so how can they contact you and get the information about the event? Get the information about sponsoring and then information about your organization.

Speaker 3:

Well, I would encourage them to go to HunterHospitalityHousecom. Our website is pretty comprehensive, and at the top of that website you'll find a Hope Blooms button and you click on that and that gives you a link to buy your tickets or to purchase a sponsorship. You can always call us. Our phone number is 810-824-3679, and we will definitely help you out in either purchasing your tickets or answering questions about Hunter Hospitality House. Email is a great way to get a hold of me too, and our email address is hunterhospitalityhouseatgmailcom.

Speaker 2:

Those are great ways to contact you. I want to thank you for taking a few minutes of your time today telling us about your organization, telling us how we can help, and really excited about your upcoming event.

Speaker 3:

Thanks so much for having me. What fun.

Speaker 1:

What fun, 888-9640.