IOWA CITY -- Thieleane Raecker's eyes lit up as a blue jay perched on the feeder hanging outside her bedroom window.

She grabbed her husband's arm to draw his attention to the small creature seeking food.

"I'm just so happy to see the birds out here," she said. "In our backyard at home, we have about a dozen bird feeders."

The small reminder of their Waterloo home wasn't much. But that, coupled with the family photos, get well cards and Iowa Hawkeye throw pillow in their bedroom was enough to make Thieleane and James Raecker feel comfortable during the four weeks they spent at the Russell and Ann Gerdin American Cancer Society Hope Lodge while James received radiation treatments at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

And it was an experience that would have been hard to duplicate in any Iowa City hotel.

"This has been our home away from home," James said.

Open for business

The Iowa City Hope Lodge, nestled in a wooded area near the Ronald McDonald House and Carver Hawkeye Arena, opened this fall. The building, with 28 guest rooms and several shared lounge areas, offers a free place for a patient and their caregiver to stay while undergoing treatment at the University of Iowa's Holden Comprehensive Cancer Treatment Center. Though there is no cost to stay at the lodge, patients must be referred for the service by their doctor.

The $8 million capital campaign was split into two pieces -- $4 million for construction costs and $4 million for an endowment to offset operating costs.

"We didn't want to have to keep going back to the people every year, essentially begging to keep the doors open," said Marcia Holley, major gifts director for the Iowa chapter of the American Cancer Society.

The campaign is about 90 percent complete. Though large donors, like the Gerdins who gave $4 million to the project, are key to any large capital campaign, Holley said it was those who stepped up with smaller donations that prove just how well-supported this project was in Iowa.

"We had gifts from kids who did lemonade stands and an elementary school that wanted to raise money for Hope Lodge. I could see the Ronald McDonald House, but they wanted to do it for us," she said. "Their goal was $500 and they raised over $1,000. And there was another woman who was on the Oprah show when she gave away $1,000 for guests to pay forward and she raised over $100,000. It's about all these gifts coming together to make this a reality."

The first Hope Lodge opened in 1970 in Charleston, S.C. Currently there are 28 lodges across the country which served more than 18,000 adult patients and caregivers in 2007 saving them nearly $19 million in hotel expenses.

Emotional support priceless

Linda Kauffmann has battled breast cancer for two years. Her most recent bout with the disease required five weeks of radiation at the Iowa City cancer treatment center. She returns to her Dubuque home every weekend where she is supported by her husband, their 11- and 9-year-old sons and family and friends.

Most weeks, though, she fights the battle more than 80 miles away from her support system. But Kauffmann is rarely alone.

"You gain another family when you stay here," she said, standing in one of the four identical Hope Lodge kitchens. "You come down from your room and you can talk with anybody at just about anytime. You get to know them and about their lives. In a hotel, you are cooped up in a room with nobody."

Often the guests -- they are not patients when they enter Hope Lodge's front door -- find themselves with a lot of extra free time throughout the day. For many, the walk or drive to the treatment center takes more time than the treatment itself. And while many battle with side affects, like fatigue, they also find plenty of time for gathering in one of the lounges or kitchen areas to chat about everything from their families to current events or sports.

Some have even found the time to take in a Hawkeye football game or basketball game. James Raecker, a retired Waterloo dentist, spends many mornings at Carver-Hawkeye Arena watching the basketball team practice. And when Dave Bluder, husband to Iowa women's head basketball coach Lisa Bluder, stops by the Lodge, the Raeckers greet him like an old friend.

The Raeckers made many friends during their Hope Lodge stay. Thieleane led a knitting class once a week and could often be found in the kitchen making lunch for other guests. Televisions are placed sparingly around the lodge -- there are none in the individual rooms -- which encourages everyone to leave their rooms and mingle with other guests.

The arrangement took some getting used to, but Thieleane said she couldn't imagine the lodge any other way. She said the support for caregivers is just as important as the support for patients.

"This allows you to see other people who are walking the same walk. Jim goes to bed and sleeps a lot, which gives me the chance to talk with other people," she said. "If I were at home, I would see all the work that needed to be done and that is not what I need to be focusing on right now. We all need to focus on getting these people better. That is the common thread here. Everyone is fighting the evil cancer."

Just in time

Keri Waldschmidt of Mason City is on her third stay at the Iowa City Hope Lodge. Her husband, Christopher, is battling testicular cancer that traveled through his stomach and lungs before finally settling in his brain.

Christopher has stayed at the lodge for some of his treatments, but in early November he was admitted to the hospital as he prepared for stem cell therapy.

"We had heard this was being built, but we didn't know when it would be open. When we came back to Iowa City in October for his scans he ended up having to stay here and the doctor referred us to Hope Lodge," she said. "This has helped us out so much moneywise. We are just so thankful to have something like this available."

Keri said the cheapest hotel room she could find in an area where she would feel safe staying alone was $85 a night.

"When you are staying for five days and then add in meals, it gets to be a lot of money real quick," she said. "But we couldn't drive that far every day either."

Though there are no income guidelines to stay in the lodge, guests and their caregivers must live at least 40 miles or one hour away from the treatment center to qualify for the free housing. Jim McGregor, the lodge's general manager, said that once a guest checks in, the room is theirs for the duration of their treatment, even if they leave each weekend, which most do.

McGregor has been with the project since its infancy, helping with the fundraising effort and eventually taking the top position.

"I had been planning on volunteering here anyway, so I went for it," he said. "This has been the best job in the world. I can't wait to get here in the morning, and I don't want to leave at night. The friendships I've made here are everlasting."

The guests are also impressed with McGregor's passion for his work and the people living in the house.

"He is like the house father," Thieleane said. "He brings everyone their paper in the morning and he knows who wants which one. He checks in on people and knows if someone hasn't been around yet but hasn't signed out. He makes everyone a member of this family."

And that, she said, is what gets many of the guests and their caregivers through the day -- the sense that someone else is looking out for them.

"No one here is ever lonely," she said. "There is always someone who cares, always someone who will listen."

Contact Emily Christensen at (319) 291-1570 or emily.christensen@wcfcourier.com.