Our History

The foundation of Hospitality House of Charlotte traces back to 1982, when the Mecklenburg Medical Auxiliary conducted a survey of area medical personnel inquiring how the organization could further assist with community healthcare issues. Responses overwhelmingly cited a critical need – a housing facility for out-of-town family members and friends of patients in local hospitals. The Auxiliary heard countless stories about people sleeping in waiting rooms or cars, living off food from snack machines and showering in hospital bathrooms in order to be near their loved ones.

The Auxiliary immediately responded by setting up an endowment fund with the goal of purchasing a home that would provide a place for these families to stay free of charge. The organization purchased its first home in 1985 on Scott Avenue across from Carolinas Medical Center. That April the first guest arrived, greeted by an on-site resident manger and volunteers. The home became known as “MMAE’s Inn,” for the Mecklenburg Medical Auxiliary Endowment. After overseeing MMAE’s Inn for approximately a year, the Auxiliary turned their responsibilities over to a board of directors. The organization achieved nonprofit status in 1987.

In 1992, MMAE’s Inn opened an additional home in a wing of St. John’s Baptist Church, located across from Presbyterian Hospital. The church’s partnership with MMAE’s Inn broadened the organization’s outreach by making it more accessible for families who had loved ones hospitalized at Presbyterian, Orthopaedic and Mercy Hospitals. The new home doubled the number of people the organization was able to serve, and provided handicap accessible facilities and the privacy of bedrooms for families who wanted to stay together.

MMAE’s Inn changed its name to Hospitality House of Charlotte in 1998 and became a member of the National Association of Hospital Hospitality Houses (NAHHH), a national organization whose mission is to provide support and leadership for family-centered lodging and support services. Today, Hospitality House of Charlotte is among 150 nonprofit member organizations of NAHHH.

More about our National Association

The National Association of Hospital Hospitality Houses, Inc. (NAHHH) is a nonprofit corporation serving organizations that provide lodging and other supportive services to patients and their families when confronted with medical emergencies. Each facility assures that a homelike environment is provided to persons who must travel to be with a patient or to receive necessary outpatient care. Established in 1986, NAHHH now serves more than 150 “homes that help and heal” in communities throughout the U.S.

The origins of a national association may be attributed to the “Kevin Guest House,” a home founded by Cyril and Claudia Garvey in 1972, in tribute to their son, Kevin Garvey, who passed away from leukemia. For a year and a half, the Garvey family traveled from their home in Sharon, Pennsylvania to the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, for Kevin’s treatments. In Buffalo, they encountered many families like themselves, who were traveling far distances because they had nowhere to stay. Shortly after Kevin passed away, the Garveys decided to help these families and began raising money to purchase a house for this purpose. Their dream was realized with the establishment of the “Kevin Guest House,” a home that became the inspiration for the first Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia and many other Hospitality Houses throughout the country.

Click here to learn more about NAHHH.