Patients travel from around the world to seek care at Houston’s Texas Medical Center because of its reputation for doctors and staff. Yet, as those major hospitals launch satellite centers in Houston suburbs, some out-of-town visitors are making Katy their treatment destination.

Thanks to one local organization, they now have a free place to stay.

Diana Kerrigan, 58, recently completed radiation treatment for throat cancer at M.D. Anderson Radiation Treatment Center in Katy. A Wimberley resident, she uprooted her life for more than a month, but said the process was made easier by Cinco Charities. The nonprofit outreach of Keller Williams Realty Katy at Cinco Ranch provided her with a free 10-night stay at the Marriott TownePlace Suites, 15155 Katy Freeway.

“Not only did they provide me an ability to stay and be treated, but they took the stress off of me, so I could focus on getting well,” she said.

Kerrigan preferred receiving radiation in Katy because of the center’s intimate environment and flexible schedules. She did, however, commute to the medical center for her chemotherapy treatments.

“The biggest difference is you are not a number; everybody knows you,” she said. “Whenever you would go downtown, you had to give them your number, so they knew who you were. It’s not like that in Katy. At the Katy treatment center, they have this ritual where you ring this bell when you’re finished with your treatment.” Kerrigan said. “People I didn’t even know waited around for me to ring the bell.”

But those were not the only strangers who helped Kerrigan through her recovery. Every week, she said she received a call from Gary Lamb, a board member of Cinco Charities and a Keller Williams Realtor.

“It’s very humbling,” she said. “People who were strangers were nicer to me than some people I know. They embraced you not because you were ill, but because you are a human being.”

Lamb, an eight-year Hodgkin’s lymphoma cancer survivor, had walked in Kerrigan’s shoes. Fortunately, though, he lived near the medical center so did not have to pay for a hotel.

“If you don’t have a place to stay and you’re ill, it’s expensive,” he said.

Lamb got involved with Cinco Charities shortly after he became a Keller Williams Realtor. The nonprofit formed in 2005 after the Keller Williams national headquarters challenged each regional office to leave a charitable legacy. Since that time, Keller Williams Katy at Cinco Ranch has hosted three golf tournaments to raise funds in addition to allowing individual real estate agents to make donations. While the organization still is in the fundraising stage, Lamb said its ultimate goal is to build a short-term housing facility, similar to a Ronald McDonald House.

“Even though we are certainly not the Ronald McDonald House, we would like to help more people,” he said.

With St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System and Texas Children’s Hospital on the way, Cinco Charities offers accommodation to anyone with a life-threatening illness, despite his or her financial situation. The organization provides up to 10 nights a month in a four-person bedroom and kitchenette at Marriott TownePlace Suites.

For information about Cinco Charities, call 281-220-2188 or visit www.cincocharities.org.

The preceding article was written by Marianne Horton and originally published in the Houston Chronicle, a nationally recognized regional newspaper headquartered in Houston, Texas. You can read the original article here.