Altrusa Hospitality House. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The families of patients who come to Green Bay for medical reasons often stay in hotels, but for those needing a place to stay during the week of the NFL Draft, options are limited and unaffordable for many.
During the week of April 20, nearly a quarter of a million people are expected to descend upon Green Bay for the draft. Hotels and Airbnbs are either fully booked or very expensive during that time.
This is creating a problem for patients and their families coming to Green Bay for medical care. The Altrusa Hospitality House is trying to alleviate that problem.
“I think there are a lot of people right now… Not sure what they’re going to do during the draft,” Altrusa Hospitality House Mission Advancement Manager Kristine Blum said.
To help mitigate the problem, the Altrusa Hospitality House is launching an initiative called “Nights for Neighbors.” They’re asking for volunteers to step up and be a hero for patients and their families.
“We want to see the community come together and open up their doors, open up a spare bedroom, for people traveling that may not be able to find a hotel or a room to stay in while they’re here,” Blum said.
Volunteers are being asked to house people for one to seven nights during draft week. Families travel from up to four hours away to seek medical attention in Green Bay.
Altrusa Hospitality can house up to 10 families, but between 100 and 200 families come to the area on any given night for medical purposes, and the draft will be no exception.
“Being close to family really is the best medicine, and so opening a warm and welcoming home can create healing that we can’t even understand,” Blum said.
The Nights for Neighbors initiative needs as many volunteers as possible to step up during the draft. They’re asking folks to help out in any way they can. While spare bedrooms and bathrooms are the priority, items like snacks, toothpaste, chap stick and monetary donations are being collected by a group through Old St. Joe’s Church.
“When they’re staying at some person’s house, we don’t expect that person necessarily have all of those comforts readily available and just open up their pantries and such,” volunteer Chryssy Joski said.
Joski has helped the Altrusa House with fundraisers in the past. While she doesn’t have a room to spare, she’s thinking out of the box to offer a hand in a time of need.
“These are people who are at some of the lowest points, worst points of their life, and they just need a little bit of comfort,” Joski said.
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