2007 The Franklin Press

Asheville’s  Rathbun Center Celebrates 13 Years of Helping Families
(Former Macon County resident worked to get nonprofit hospitality center started)
By Colin McCandless, Staff writer

The Lewis Rathbun Center is celebrating 13 years of providing families and/or caregivers of patients who must travel to Asheville for medical treatments a free place to stay. 
Each year, the independent nonprofit corporation furnishes more than 9,000 nights of lodging at no charge to more than 1,500 families, and offers other supportive services as well in a “home-like,” tranquil environment.
Former Macon County resident Adelaide Daniels Key (a cancer survivor) founded the center. A businesswoman and philanthropist, Key currently serves on its Board of Directors.
Key was inspired to build the center as a result of her own frequent day trips into Asheville for treatment and the recognition that others suffer the same hardship. She named the center after Dr. Lewis S. Rathbun (who also serves on the Board of Directors), who helped establish the “Life After Cancer,” program, known today as “Pathways.”
According to Rathbun executive director Kay Dossey, Macon County citizens have been by far the largest users of the Rathbun service among the 21 Western North Carolina counties.
Since it opened in September 1994, some 1,972 Macon County families have used the Rathbun Center for a total of 11,426 nights. The next closest county in terms of total families is Cherokee County at 1,248, and in terms of total nights, Jackson County is a distant second with 8,086.
Dossey attributes these high numbers to the Key connection and the fact that so many residents here know about the center and help contribute to its continued existence.
“We have a lot of organizations that support us in Macon County,” Dossey said.
However, people from all over the country utilize the service. In 2006, the Rathbun Center had an average annual occupancy of 91 percent and guests hailed from 38 different states and Canada.
Dossey said the center focuses on taking care of the caregiver, or the person who is at the hospital all day attending to sick family or friends. She said the Rathbun center does anything it can to make their experience more pleasurable and help rejuvenate the caregiver for the next day.
“We just want people to be restored,” Dossey said. She said in addition to the staff assistance, the people staying at Rathbun often develop a support network with each other. 
Rathbun is open and staffed 24/7 all year long. The center consists of only four full-time staff, but they have more than 100 volunteers, a third of whom have been there since the building opened, according to Dossey.
Each of the 25 rooms accommodates a family of four and emphasize a warm and comfortable presentation. Nearly all rooms include a porch overlooking the woods and feature a number of windows to compensate for an entire day spent in a hospital’s drab, largely windowless environment.
Additionally, the building has a playroom with slides and toys for kids to use.
Dossey explained that potential guests at the Rathbun Center do not call the center directly to request a room. All accommodations are made through the hospital, usually via the hospital clergy, and people stay there on a first-come, first-serve basis.
They accept families from any of the three main hospitals in Asheville: Mission Hospital, the VA Hospital and Care Partners Health Services, so the need for rooms often exceeds the space available, according to Dossey.
The center is located within five minutes of both Mission and Care Partners.
Rathbun depends completely on donations from individuals, businesses, civic organizations and hospitals, and the center’s cost to serve each family is $55 a day. Dossey says they receive a lot of support from churches as well.
As they turn 13, they are asking people to sponsor or help sponsor one family at $55 a day, $110 for two families, $165 for three, etc.
Any money donated will help provide safe and comfortable accommodations for families to rest and renew themselves while a loved one is ill.
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