Banner MD Anderson Breaks Ground on Eight Homes for Patients and their Families

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GILBERT, Ariz. (Sept. 27, 2023) – Today, Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, Banner Health Foundation and Taylor Morrison broke ground on eight homes in Gilbert as part of Banner MD Anderson’s Home Away from Home program. The cost of a place to stay can be a central concern for patients and their families who travel to Banner MD Anderson for their care, and these homes provide both housing and financial assistance to those patients who might need multiple days or weeks of daily treatment or extended hospitalization.

Built and donated by Taylor Morrison and site work completed by McCarthy Building Companies, the first eight homes are expected to be complete by spring 2024. Each 1,100-sq.-ft., fully-furnished home will feature two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, laundry room, gathering room, and a private backyards for patients, their families and care partners to enjoy. Each home is equipped with ADA accessible features, Wi-Fi and keyless door entry technology. Most importantly, all homes are within walking distance of Banner MD Anderson. Upon completion, the community will include 16 homes and provide lodging for up to 160 patients each year.

“Facing a cancer diagnosis and undergoing treatment can be emotionally and physically challenging for the entire family. This program helps take away the stress of housing and commute while they are under our care,” said Michael Herring, Chief Executive Officer of Banner Gateway Medical Center and Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center. “We are grateful for Taylor Morrison’s shared commitment in ensuring that those who need our care can afford to do so, in homes just steps away from the hospital.”

Led by a group of committed community leaders, the Home Away From Home fundraising campaign started in 2019 to financially support patients in need of a place to stay during cancer treatment. The original goal was to assist patients who lacked local housing and who were scheduled for treatment lasting 30 or more days. This included patients undergoing a stem-cell transplant, who need to be within 30 minutes of the facility to qualify for their transplant and for post-operative monitoring, as well as blood cancer patients who receive daily treatment for weeks or months.

The Home Away from Home program has provided more than 4,000 nights of discounted hotel lodging for 125 qualifying cancer patients and their family members since 2020. Thanks to charitable gifts from individuals, families, businesses and foundations, including Thunderbirds Charities and the American Cancer Society, the program now assists qualifying patients with all types of cancer. And thanks to the generous acts by Taylor Morrison and McCarthy Building Companies, those families can now be the under the same roof, supporting one another during their cancer experience.

“There’s no greater gift we can provide than the comfort of home and for patients to be with their loved ones as they undergo the physical and emotional journey of cancer treatment,” said Sheryl Palmer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Taylor Morrison. “What we’re building is a community of healing, and we hope patients can feel the healing benefits that a sense of community brings when living near other patients going through similar health experiences in beautiful, clean, new homes.”

“As community builders, we at McCarthy feel very fortunate to partner with the Banner Health Foundation and Taylor Morrison to help provide Banner MD Anderson patients with a ‘Home Away from Home’,” said Lee O’Connell, Vice President of Operations for McCarthy. “The Banner Health Foundation’s dedication to advancing care, research, health education, patient services and community programs is a perpetual source of inspiration and aligns with McCarthy’s mission of being advocates for community betterment.”

In 2022, thousands of patients traveled more than 30 miles each way for care at Banner MD Anderson. An estimated 330 of those patients came from outside of Arizona. Even with Banner MD Anderson’s discounted hotel rate, a patient who does not have access to local lodging could spend an average of $5,500 on hotel stays.

The Banner Health Foundation continues to raise funds for a dedicated endowment to both sustain the housing community and continue providing financial assistance with hotel stays for qualifying patients. To support the endowment with a tax-deductible gift, visit give.bannerhealth.com/HAFH

About Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center

Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center delivers cancer care to patients through the partnership of Banner Health and MD Anderson Cancer Center. Banner MD Anderson offers focused disease-specific expertise in the medical, radiation and surgical management of the cancer patient; an evidence-based, multidisciplinary approach to patient care; access to clinical trials and new investigative therapies; state-of-the-art technology for the diagnosis, staging and treatment of all types of cancer; oncology expertise in supportive care services. For more information, visit www.BannerMDAnderson.com.

About Banner Health Foundation

Established in 2001, the Banner Health Foundation engages the community and stewards charitable gifts to advance Banner Health's nonprofit mission to make health care easier so life can be better. Contributions are invested locally to support patient care programs and services operated by Banner's many hospitals and health care facilities in Arizona and Wyoming. For more information, please visit www.bannerhealthfoundation.org.

About Taylor Morrison

Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, Taylor Morrison is one of the nation's leading homebuilders and developers. We serve a wide array of consumers from coast to coast, including first-time, move-up, luxury and resort lifestyle homebuyers and renters under our family of brands—including Taylor Morrison, Esplanade, Darling Homes Collection by Taylor Morrison and Yardly. From 2016-2023, Taylor Morrison has been recognized as America's Most Trusted® Builder by Lifestory Research. Our strong commitment to sustainability, our communities and our team is highlighted in our latest annual Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report. For more information about Taylor Morrison, please visit www.taylormorrison.com.

About McCarthy Building Companies

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is the oldest privately held national construction company in the country – with nearly 160 years spent collaborating with partners to solve complex building challenges on behalf of its clients. McCarthy's Heart Hats® program is a reflection of the company’s commitment to giving back to the communities it serves through volunteerism, donations and charitable initiatives. Repeatedly honored as a Best Place to Work and Healthiest Employer, McCarthy is ranked the 19th largest domestic builder (Engineering News-Record, May 2023). With approximately 6,000 salaried employees and craft professionals, the firm has offices in St. Louis; Atlanta; Collinsville, Ill.; Kansas City, Kan.; Omaha, Neb.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; Denver; Austin, Channelview, Dallas, and Houston, Texas; and San Diego, Newport Beach, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose and Sacramento, Calif. McCarthy is 100% employee owned. More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com or by following the company on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

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