If you long for an antidote to the isolated, self-centered, smartphone culture of AI America, it was on display at the ribbon cutting for the 100th Fisher House last week.
Hundreds of people gathered, not to take selfies or to swap memes, but to celebrate service to others.
So, what is the Fisher House?
Military families often find out the hard way. They get word that a son has been injured in combat, or a wife has been diagnosed with cancer. They need care at a military or VA hospital that’s far from where they live, treatment that will take days or weeks – or maybe even longer.
The first question they ask? “Where will I stay?”
One of the best answers they can get, as more than 530,000 militarY families already have, is “Well, there is a Fisher House…”
They call themselves a “home away from home” for service members, veterans, and families. A Fisher House typically features a dozen or so private suites, a large kitchen, and some common rooms.
Every family stays for free in a home built entirely by donations from private citizens. Average Americans who heard that there were people who serve our country, who were hurting and needed help.
And so they built them a house – 100 houses, actually.
Fisher House CEO Ken Fisher (left) and his wife Tammy with VA Secretary Doug Collins at the ribbon cutting for the 100th Fisher House, in North Chicago, Ill. on July 29, 2025.
The 100th house, like the 99 before, was built on a military medical campus – in this case, the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center – as in the Jim Lovell, who was played by Tom Hanks in “Apollo 13.”
Captain Lovell, a spry 97 years old, was at the ribbon cutting. So was Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Allen Lynch, who repeatedly crossed open ground during a firefight in Vietnam to rescue three of his fellow soldiers, then spent hours, alone, holding off enemy attacks until help came.
Both were cheered by an enthusiastic crowd that also included sailors in their dress whites from the nearby Naval Station Great Lakes. These young men and women know – though they might never say it out loud – that their decision to fight for their country may mean they will become a Fisher House family one day, too.
Being at a Fisher House is to be reminded that America still has heroes.
It’s also a reminder of the power of family.
In the era of iPad physicians and AI diagnosis, the Fisher House embraces an old-fashioned medical philosophy: “A family’s love is good medicine.”
“Fisher House matters because family matters, and because we are not in this alone,” Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins said at the ribbon cutting.
Collins, who was a Georgia pastor before he became a congressman, preached against the culture of isolation he sees pervading American life.
“Today, we have too many of our veterans, too many of our veterans’ families, and frankly, too many people in general who believe that they’re going through their challenges alone.”
Fisher House is proof that they are wrong.
“There are rooms in that house where you can cry by yourself, and there are rooms in that house where you can cry on the shoulder of someone who cares,” Collins said.
Randy and Carolyn Cromwell of Gillman, Ill. (population: 1,674) understand. When Randy, who served with the Army’s 101st Airborne in Vietnam, needed weeks of treatment at the Hines VA Hospital near Chicago, the couple was referred to the Fisher House.
“We made new friends,” Carolyn said of the other families staying at the house. “They are there for the same reason you are so that you can share everything.”
“It’s the bonding that makes it special,” Randy added.
Talk show host Montel Williams, who emceed the event, is an Emmy-winning broadcaster, author, and veteran of the Navy and the Marines. Asked about his years of support for the Fisher House, he called it “probably the proudest thing I’ve done in my life.”
“When people support the Fisher House, they know where their money goes. It’s right there, in the house.”
Montel Williams (center) and former members of the crew of the USS Intrepid at the ribbon cutting for the 100th Fisher House in North Chicago, Ill. on July 29, 2025
Williams recently co-authored a book, “The Sailing of the Intrepid,” about the history of the USS Intrepid, the legendary U.S. Navy aircraft carrier that served from World War II through Vietnam. When the Navy was preparing to scrap the ship, New York real estate developer Zachary Fisher donated millions and organized a public effort to save the ship.
Thanks to his efforts, the Intrepid was towed to New York Harbor and opened in 1982 as the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.
It was during his work on the Intrepid project that he heard stories about family members sleeping in their cars outside military hospitals, and the idea for the Fisher House was born.
Today, every Fisher House — including at the Lovell Center — has a flag flying over it that has flown over the Intrepid. Four Navy veterans who served on the Intrepid were on hand to deliver the flag.
“When you serve, there’s a bond,” said Marc Wolf of New York City. “It’s an unbreakable bond.”
And the mission continues. The 101st Fisher House is scheduled to open soon in Little Rock, Ark.
