Denise Einkauf , Featured Speaker
Posted
on May 15, 2015
On Friday, May 15th, Denise Einkauf will be sharing information about Ballard House in Katy. Here is the Ballard House story, which I unabashedly stole from the website:
The dream started in 2006 when the CEO of Keller Williams Realty issued a challenge to Keller Williams market centers around the country to “leave a legacy” in the communities in which they live and work. The associates of Keller Williams Premier Realty in Katy took that challenge to heart. Construction of The West Houston Medical Center had just started and it was evident that people would be travelling to the area for their treatments and would need housing. Cinco Charities, Inc. was birthed with the mission to provide temporary housing for patients and their caregivers coming to the Katy/West Houston area medical facilities for treatment of life threatening illnesses.
For several years, while working toward their ultimate goal to build a hospital hospitality house for guests which would be free of charge to patients going through treatment and open to patients of any age, Cinco Charities continued housing families in nearby hotels. This was accomplished because of the generosity of sponsors and friends of Cinco Charities who attended the fundraising events and supported the mission wholeheartedly.
In 2011, Erin Ballard, a cancer patient herself heard about Cinco Charities from her oncologist, Dr. Sunil Patel at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Katy and was inspired to donate the use of one of her rental properties to Cinco Charities to expand their outreach. That home became known as Erin’s House. Erin’s House was loved by all of the families who found it be their “home away from home” during their loved ones treatment.
Erin’s husband, Monty was touched by the charities mission as well and started The Ballard Foundation to advance Cinco Charities goal to build their hospitality house in Katy. “We live in Katy, not far down the street from MD Anderson,” Monty Ballard said, “We started thinking about people that live in other states who wanted the best treatment they could get and just couldn’t afford the other parts of the puzzle. They might have great insurance, but still couldn’t afford to come here to stay and get treatment. We thought we could make it possible for Cinco Charities to move forward.”
n December 2013, a huge crowd of supporters celebrated the grand opening of The Ballard House which boasts 20,000 square feet of livable space and is located on three acres in the heart of Katy. A few days later, our first five families were moved in. And they keep arriving from other countries, all over the US and from the four corners of Texas. The Ballard House has experienced the generous support from our community in so many ways and we are so thankful for each and every one of you. We have the very best volunteers in the world who show every day with open hearts and big smiles to welcome everyone who enters our doors with a happy greeting, “Welcome to The Ballard House.”