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U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12) joined Dr. Mary Beth Skupien, Acting Director VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, last night at Ann Arbor’s Annual Veteran Storytellers Event, Service Above Self, to announce that Ann Arbor has been approved by the VA Healthcare System and Fisher Foundation as the site of the first Fisher House in Michigan. Fisher House provides valuable housing opportunities for families of veterans who are receiving medical treatment at military and VA medical centers across the country. The announcement will impact the lives of 640,000 Michigan veterans and their families.

“The men and women who serve our country deserve our gratitude and respect and the very best care possible,” said Dingell. “Fisher House provides a home away from home for veterans and their families so they can stay together throughout the treatment process and ease the road to recovery. Congratulations to the ‘Build It For The Brave’ committee, which has worked tirelessly to bring about this significant approval from the Fisher House Foundation. I will continue to work with them to make this vision a reality.”

“We are thrilled to be the first Fisher House site for Michigan,” said Skupien.  “The Ann Arbor community’s unfailing support for our Veterans brings us that much closer to fulfilling our noble mission.  We look forward to an amazing partnership in this endeavor.”

Approval of the Fisher House follows more than a year of hard work and cooperation by federal, state and local officials, university and community business leaders, and community activists to make the extraordinary medical care resources of Ann Arbor—one of the nation's greatest medical centers—far more accessible to the nation's military veterans. 

Dingell has long worked to bring a Fisher House to Ann Arbor and has worked to increase federal funding for Fisher House in the Congress.