Sycamore couple looks to open hospitality house for families of patients

SYCAMORE - A Sycamore couple's experiences with a sick child are the reason behind their efforts to help family and friends of other seriously ill patients. Mary Lou and Philip Eubanks stayed in a Ronald McDonald hospitality house a few years ago when their child was sick. They said the solace of the homey environment was invaluable. Now the couple wants to help other families and friends who have sick loved ones being treated at Sycamore's Kindred Hospital. The Eubankses went before the Sycamore Plan Commission on Monday night to ask for the city's direction on creating a home where family members and friends of seriously ill patients at Kindred Hospital might stay for a short time. The couple said the home at 719 Somonauk St. - which has three bedrooms as well as other rooms that could be converted into bedrooms - would make a nice hospitality home, in part because of its proximity to the hospital and because the lot has room for parking. The hospital on Edward Street treats people with extensive illnesses that require the use of ventilators, said Cindy Smith, hospital CEO. Patients receive treatments to make them stronger and enable them to go off ventilators so they can go home or to rehabilitation centers. Some patients come from as far south as Peoria or as far west as the Mississippi River. Their family members might have to travel back and forth each day to visit them or pay for hotel rooms. A place for them to stay would bring some comfort to them during an already difficult time, Mary Lou Eubanks said. She has contacted officials from other hospitality houses, which she said hers would be modeled after. Volunteers would run the home during the day, but no workers would live on the premises. Visitors would not be able to cook meals in the home but could use toasters or microwave ovens. Sycamore Mayor John Swedberg said Monday afternoon that the Eubankses approached him a few months ago with the idea. "There is a need for this house," he said. People from all walks of life need to visit loved ones and some people can't afford hotels, he said, while others prefer the homey, inviting atmosphere of a hospitality house to a hotel. "The Eubanks should be commended for this," he said, adding that the facility would be not-for-profit. Some commission members wondered how the hospitality house staff would ensure safety of the visitors if no staff was around at night. Others questioned how the city would regulate the facility since it has never before dealt with a hospitality house. City Manager Bill Nicklas said the city also would have to consider how it would work current fire codes and handicap accessibility requirements into the plan. Plan commission member George Bridgewater said the plan commission, and likely the city, should work with the Eubankses to open the house. "Having this type of (housing) in conjunction with that type of facility adds that much more credibility to Sycamore and the city that we are," he said. Mary Lou Eubanks said she would work with the city to see that its guidelines are met. The plan likely will come before the plan commission again in the future for further consideration. Also Monday, Midwest Holdings, the company that developed the Grand Victorian retirement home, asked to expand the facility to include another 20 apartments on the property's northeast corner. The assisted-living facility on Somonauk Street currently has 61 apartments. Nicklas said the two-story expansion would match the design of the rest of the building. The plan commission voted in favor of the plan. The city council will take it up on Monday. Renee Messacar can be reached at rmessacar@pulitzer.net.