Hearts in the Community

Navy & Marine Corps Fisher House Team Supports the 2017 DOD Warrior Games

Navy & Marine Corps Fisher House staff proudly joined Fisher House Foundation and the Warrior Games Family Program to assist family members of all athletes in Chicago from June 29 – July 9.

Their mission was to assist the athlete’s friends and family members at their arrival in Chicago. All were partnered with a service point of contact to assist with family hotel check-in and registration, and to be available with helping hands for any individual needs during the Games. A true partnership and bond developed among everyone as part of the family program team.

Managers had the opportunity to see family members and athletes who had previously stayed at their house. This experience added a new level of understanding seeing “our families” full circle — what recovery, family and a caring home truly means.

"It was pretty amazing to see folks that we have been able to assist in their hardest times, and see the progress that they have made, participating in Warrior Games. We don’t always get to see the progress of these folks and it really hit home for me and made me more proud (if that’s possible) to do the job that we do. Attending, we were able to assist families as we do in our houses. Whether it was from the services we were ‘assigned to’ or other services, (I’m sure we all helped whoever needed it), what a grateful and gratifying experience for me!" — Mike Ybarra, Fisher House manager at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

"Being with the families of the athletes certainly was a privilege and an honor. This experience working with all who were there was nothing short of amazing. The coordination of an event this size was stupendous to say the least. The environment was fully charged and so positive – there were so many outside of this event that were in awe. Even after returning and letting staff and other peers know how fortunate and honored that we were selected to attend this event, it has made for very humbling story telling. This was a once in a lifetime experience!" — Lori Erickson