[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 25628]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING PAULA WELENC AND THE TAMPA FISHER HOUSE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GINNY BROWN-WAITE

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 23, 2009

  Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to 
honor Paula Welenc and the Fisher House at the James A. Haley Veterans' 
Hospital in Tampa, Florida.
  Military families are the first line of support for our servicemen 
and women. Some families are called on to support and encourage their 
loved ones long after they've returned from the battles of war. For 
them, the Fisher House often becomes their ``home away from home.'' At 
the Fisher House in Tampa, Florida, Paula Welenc is there to welcome 
them with open arms.
  Paula is the manager of the Fisher House at the James A. Haley 
Veterans' Hospital in Tampa. She has been with the facility since it 
opened in July of 2007. A clinical social worker by profession, she 
spent twenty years on active duty in the United States Air Force. In 
2004, after retiring from the Air Force, she and her family moved to 
Spring Hill, Florida where Paula was hired as the Department of 
Defense's Domestic Violence Victims Advocate at MacDill Air Force Base.
  Paula's military and civilian backgrounds give her a unique 
understanding of the issues facing our military families who are 
dealing with the illness or injury of their loved one.
  In a recent newspaper article about the Fisher House in Tampa, Paula 
remarked, ``We strive so hard to have this calm, relaxing, very 
comfortable setting for them while they're going through what might 
well be one of the most traumatic things that has ever happened in 
their life.''
  Since it opened its doors, the Fisher House in Tampa has hosted more 
than 1,200 people. The 16,000-square-foot house can accommodate up to 
21 families at a time, and averages 35 guests per night. The average 
length of stay is two months, but two families have been there since 
the house opened.
  Nationwide, The Fisher House Program has made available nearly three 
million days of lodging since the program originated in 1990. They are 
operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs and rely on donations to 
the Fisher House Foundation so that no family has to pay to stay at any 
Fisher House.
  Madam Speaker, just as our military men and women believe it is their 
duty to serve our Nation; it is our duty to support them. Paula has 
truly answered the call. On behalf of this Congress and the families 
that have benefited from this program, I thank her for her unyielding 
commitment to this most important cause.