ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- CentraCare's Gorecki Guest House is celebrating 15 years of helping people have an affordable place to stay when a loved one is in the hospital. The house opened in 2009 and provides short-term lodging to people who have someone close in the St. Cloud Hospital. It has helped over 40,000 people from all over Minnesota, the United States, and 14 countries from around the world.

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Paul Habstritt, WJON
Paul Habstritt, WJON
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Paul Habstritt, WJON
Paul Habstritt, WJON
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Paul Habstritt, WJON
Paul Habstritt, WJON
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Christine Midthun  with Gorecki Guest House says they are a hotel with a heart and it is unique for a hospital to have this type of facility:

"But not all care facilities have it so we are very lucky for our community to have that. Some hospitals have that, it may not be affiliated with the hospital, it might be an independent non-profit but not all health care systems have it so it is truly a gift that the Goreski's gave us."

Paul Habstritt, WJON
Paul Habstritt, WJON
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Paul Habstritt, WJON
Paul Habstritt, WJON
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Paul Habstritt, WJON
Paul Habstritt, WJON
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Paul Habstritt, WJON
Paul Habstritt, WJON
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The house is named after Ben and Dorothy Gorecki who strongly supported the mission of having an affordable place for family members to stay while a loved one was in the hospital. Midthun says the house is kind of like a bed and breakfast:

"Our rooms look like more of a scaled-down hotel, most of them have the two twin beds, a recliner, and a private bath but we do have common areas. We have two shared family-style kitchens, living rooms, dining rooms, TV lounges, a nice back porch so it has that home-like feeling and we provide light continental breakfast items, but then people can bring their own food in and make family meals or things like that too."

Paul Habstritt, WJON
Paul Habstritt, WJON
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Paul Habstritt, WJON
Paul Habstritt, WJON
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Paul Habstritt, WJON
Paul Habstritt, WJON
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She says they charge a modest $50-a-night fee for people to stay with at the house but they never turn away anyone from the lack of ability to pay. Gorecki Guest House will be holding an open house on Tuesday from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. to celebrate its anniversary with tours and ice cream treats.

Paul Habstritt, WJON
Paul Habstritt, WJON
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Paul Habstritt, WJON
Paul Habstritt, WJON
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Paul Habstritt, WJON
Paul Habstritt, WJON
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Paul Habstritt, WJON
Paul Habstritt, WJON
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Paul Habstritt, WJON
Paul Habstritt, WJON
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