A Dying Wish Becomes a Powerful Legacy
The story of Kathy’s House starts with the vision of a young woman who was dying. In 2000, Kathy Vogel Kuettner, 39, a wife with three daughters, died of Burkitt’s lymphoma. While in the hospital, she worried about someone else: a 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 nearby. She asked her parents, Dick and Judy Vogel, to create a place to keep families together during hospital stays.
One year later, the Vogels opened an 18-room Kathy’s House. In 2021, it moved to a new, larger facility on the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center campus with 38 fully accessible guest rooms. Each guest room features two beds and a private bath, with access to shared kitchen, fitness, outdoor and meditation spaces.
For guests like Gerald and Sheila Ellis, the mix of private and shared spaces creates a sense of community that shaped Sheila’s battle with breast cancer. The California couple stayed for six months while Sheila was a patient at nearby Froedtert Hospital. “For me, Kathy’s House is like a sanctuary,” Sheila says. “I feel like it’s a place where I can physically, emotionally and spiritually heal.”
The high cost of medical care combined with lost wages means many guests rely on donors to subsidize their stay. No one is ever turned away for lack of funds.
“Our next challenge is keeping pace with growing demand,” says Kathy’s House President and CEO Kim Lamansky. “With the continued support of our community, we are ready to meet that challenge – and ensure no patient or caregiver faces the journey alone.”
What We Do
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Kathy’s House provides affordable lodging to patients residing more than 50 miles from Milwaukee who are receiving care at an area hospital, and their caregivers. In 2024, Kathy’s House provided 11,316 nights of lodging to 1,356 guests.
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Rural hospital closures, the rise in outpatient care and specialized treatments available only in Milwaukee mean that more people than ever need lodging near the hospital. Kathy’s House gives patients and caregivers a safe, supportive “home away from home.”
Where Your Money Goes
- The average cost of a stay at Kathy’s House is $113. While most guests contribute what they can, 75% cannot afford the full cost, and 13% cannot pay anything at all.
- No one is turned away due to an inability to pay. Kathy’s House receives no government funding and does not bill insurance. Every donation directly supports families facing medical crisis and ensures they can stay close to lifesaving care.
Kathy’s House
9101 W. DOYNE AVE. WAUWATOSA | 414-453-8290
