First patients move into Home Away from Home community built and donated by Taylor Morrison

07/01/2024

Homes will serve 80 patients a year who travel to Banner MD Anderson for treatment

Last month, Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Banner Health Foundation, in collaboration with Taylor Morrison, cut the ceremonial ribbon and began moving the very first patients into a new community of homes that will house patients and their loved ones while they undergo treatment at Banner MD Anderson in Gilbert, Ariz. Donated and built by Taylor Morrison, the homes are within walking distance of the cancer center, eliminating the financial burden of travel and hotel stays for approximately 80 patients and their care partners each year so they can focus on recovery in a comfortable environment.

“Despite advancements in cancer technology, true healing occurs at home,” said Dr. Matthew Callister, senior physician executive for Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center. “These homes provide comfort, safety and hope for vulnerable patients on their cancer journey, serving as a sanctuary away from their home communities. We are grateful to Taylor Morrison, its construction and design teams and community partners for making this patient housing community possible.”

While many patients can afford a short hotel stay, few are prepared to pay for long-term lodging, especially those whose treatment protocol requires weeks to months of daily therapy or close post-surgical monitoring. For many, affording a place to stay during treatment can mean the difference between receiving care or not. That spurred the creation of Banner MD Anderson's Home Away from Home program, which covers the cost of local stays at partner hotels for qualifying patients.

Led by a group of committed community leaders, the Home Away from Home fundraising campaign began in 2019 with the goal of supporting cancer patients whose treatment protocol spans 30 or more days and who lack local housing. This patient population includes those 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, and blood cancer patients who receive daily treatment for weeks or months.

Thanks to charitable gifts from individuals, families, businesses, and foundations, including Leslie's, McCarthy Building Companies, Thunderbirds Charities and the American Cancer Society, the program now assists qualifying patients with all types of cancer where proximity to their care team is vitally important. Without this assistance, a patient can spend, on average, $5,500 in hotel stays—even with discounted rates offered by hotel partners.

“This has been a dream in the making for several years and we are so thrilled to see it come to life,” said Andy Petersen, President & CEO for the Banner Health Foundation. “We are so grateful to Taylor Morrison and all of the subcontractors for their generosity and sincere compassion for our patients. You can see their care and attention to detail everywhere in this community. It is enormously gratifying to welcome our first patients and give them this home away from home.”

Patients who have the longest length of stay will be prioritized to stay in the new homes, while others will receive lodging support through the ongoing hotel program.

The design of the eight homes draw upon Taylor Morrison’s build-to-rent brand Yardly, featuring 1,000-square-foot fully furnished homes, complete with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, laundry, gathering room and private backyards. Additional space is available within the community for future development, depending on patient demand in the coming years.

“As a homebuilder, there’s no greater gift we could give than to build a community of homes that will eliminate undue stressors like hotel costs alongside rent or mortgage payments, and allow patients to focus on their treatment,” said Taylor Morrison Chairman and CEO Sheryl Palmer. “It was deeply important to us that what we were building was a true community—a place for patients to share experiences and support one another. It will be something quite unique, and we hope incredibly healing.”

The grand opening allowed local dignitaries, donors and stakeholders to tour the homes and hear from two of the first patients who moved in as they continue their treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. With Taylor Morrison’s relationship with The Home Edit and Clea Shearer’s personal and public cancer journey, it was a natural fit to have the celebrity organizers involved in making these houses feel like homes. Founders Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin surprised the patients by moving them into their new homes while organizing their belongings