FISHER HOUSE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INC

1. Program Expansion: We aim to ensure that veterans and military families needing to travel for medical care at a VA or Navy hospital in Southern California, have a place to stay in a Fisher House, or in a hotel, while their loved ones are being treated at the medical facility, with no cost to the family. We also will provide transportation and food support to the families as needed. Our new Military Family Support program will ensure that no family in need is ever turned away.
2. Board Expansion: To broaden representation in our new expanded service area, we seek to recruit 2-3 new board members representing the Inland Empire, especially in/around Loma Linda VA; and to increase our board's diversity to be more reflective of the population we serve.
3. Partnership Expansion: To build stronger relationships with our five partner hospitals: VA-Long Beach; VA-San Diego; VA-Loma Linda; Navy Hospital-Camp Pendleton; Naval Medical Center San Diego through educational scholarships and support for nurse recognition week.
4. Fiscal Accountability: To ensure that administrative expenses do not exceed 20% of total dollars raised.
5. Marketing and Outreach: To increase awareness and support of our programs to reach more families in need, and to increase funding to help us achieve our expanded support services.

Program Expansion:
1. Develop a Military Family Support Committee and identify a Team Lead.
2. Create a budget, and policy and procedures for vetting family requests.
3. Work with Case and Social workers, and hospital care workers to educate them on our expanded program (through in-person meetings, holding Zoom calls, town halls, and meeting with hospital leadership).
4. Record families being served, including number of night stays, economic impact and benefit to the family, age/branch of service of ADSM or veteran served.
5. Share program goals and results with key stakeholders.
6. Develop a hospital caregiver support committee and identify a team lead.
7. Develop a budget, policy and protocols for requested support funds, including program impact. Obtain compliance director sign-off for support funds.

Board Expansion:
1. Be intentional to research community and military leaders in target geo-areas with leadership and board experience for potential stewardship and board recruitment.
2. Work closely with veteran serving organizations and local service groups (such as Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis) in geo-target areas to help identify potential new board members.
3. Create list of potential community and retired military leaders for possible board recruitment.
4. Speak to various groups and audiences to communicate needs.

Partnership Expansion:
1. At least once annually, meet with hospital leadership teams to review goals and objectives.
2. Identify ways in which we can mutually support our common goals, and increase awareness of services provided by Fisher House.
3. Identify possible opportunities for Hospital partners to meet with our board members (coming to board meetings, attending activities, etc.)
4. Identify ways FHSC can support the needs of hospital care workers to increase program awareness and collaborations, build stronger relationships, and help mutually inform for better patient /family outcomes.

Fiscal Accountability:
1. Maintain administrative expenses below 20% of total dollars raised through active monthly review of expenses by the board to identify ways to save costs.
2. Seek lower priced vendors or bring services 'in house' to be managed by staff or volunteers.
3. Work closely to ensure the needs of our four Fisher Houses and the families we serve are being met, and that our Program expenses are tracking according to budget.
4. To cover costs of expanded services to Loma Linda and the Inland Empire, and San Diego VA area (La Jolla), seek more economical lodging for families in these areas when possible.
5. Work closely with hospital leadership on usage of funds for nurse educational scholarships and the impact our support is providing.

Marketing and Outreach:
1. Create a speakers series to service clubs
2. Host 'friend-raisers' in key markets
3. Conduct more house tours with key stakeholders, groups.
3. Share success stories and family testimonials
4. Increase social media out-put and broaden program content on website

Fisher House So Cal has a ten-year history of building strong partnerships within the greater southern California area, and equally enjoys a strong brand reputation for operating efficiencies and for providing programs that can quickly and efficiently meet the urgent needs of our families during medical crises. Supporting the needs of our staff are 15 highly engaged volunteer board members who actively support the needs of our families, and operational matters. We have new leadership under the direction of a retired Navy Captain who brings years of non-profit board leadership experience to our organization. We adopt non-profit best practices and adhere to recommendations made by our auditor on how to best gather, document and report data to meet compliance standards. Annually, we host an all day Strategic Planning meeting to set short and long-term goals, and make determinations on what it will take to achieve our goals.

In Q4 of 2022, we launched our new Military Family Support Program to ensure that military families have safe and secure lodgings to stay in while traveling to southern California for care, even when a Fisher House is NOT available. This is particularly the case for families receiving medical care at the VA-Loma Linda, or at the VA-San Diego (located in La Jolla), where we currently have no Fisher House. A hotel stay is sometimes required when our Fisher Houses are full, when a family member may not have base access (required at our Navy hospitals), or when care needs to be delivered at a private hospital that is located too far from one of our Houses. We anticipate expending some $150,000 toward this program in 2023.

Our long-term plan is to build a Fisher House at the VA-Loma Linda, and at the VA-San Diego.