The American Cancer Society has landed a $25 million naming gift from Kimberly Duchossois and her family to help build Hope Lodge Chicago, a planned facility where cancer patients and their caregivers can stay for free while receiving treatment in the city. The site is set for 5700 South Stony Island Avenue in Hyde Park, and it would become the organization's 32nd Hope Lodge location nationwide.
The announcement, made through the American Cancer Society's press office, describes the donation as a “transformational” gift meant to support the development of Hope Lodge Chicago. As CBS News Chicago reported, the gift from Kim Duchossois and her family is intended to help the American Cancer Society develop the project. Once built, the facility is meant to bring no-cost lodging and support services to cancer patients and caregivers traveling to Chicago for treatment, according to the organization's press materials.
UChicago Medicine is serving as the primary partner on the project, according to a report from UChicago Medicine. The hospital system is contributing the land for the future Hope Lodge Chicago site through a long-term lease, along with a $5 million philanthropic investment, per the American Cancer Society's release detailing the project.
A Wellness Hub Alongside the Lodging
Beyond rooms to sleep in, the planned facility will include a Cancer Wellness Hub offering programs and services for patients, caregivers, and members of the South Side community, the UChicago Medicine report notes. The Hyde Park location will also sit about one mile from UChicago Medicine's new AbbVie Foundation Cancer Pavilion, which is scheduled to open in April 2027, per the same account.
Nationally, the Hope Lodge program currently operates 31 communities across the United States and Puerto Rico, offering roughly 1,100 rooms combined, according to the American Cancer Society's overview of the program. Those existing lodges provide free lodging to more than 36,000 cancer patients and caregivers each year, saving families more than $85 million in lodging costs, the organization's press materials state.
Closing In on an $82 Million Goal
The need for that kind of support is significant: each year, roughly 200,000 people travel more than 40 miles to receive cancer treatment, according to the American Cancer Society's own figures. Hope Lodge communities exist specifically to give those patients and their loved ones a free place to stay during treatment, the organization notes.
Commitments from UChicago Medicine and Rush University System for Health together represent more than $10 million toward a broader campaign goal of approximately $82 million, according to the American Cancer Society's release. The Chicago facility is expected to provide thousands of nights of lodging each year once built, helping families save millions of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses, per that same release.
Similar Hope Lodge facilities already operate in other major cities, including a location in Manhattan known as the Jerome L. Greene Family Center and another in Minneapolis, both of which offer free lodging for patients being treated away from home, according to the American Cancer Society's program pages. Hope Lodge Chicago would extend that same model to the South Side.
