Helen’s House Family Housing should open about the end of October to provide extended-stay lodging for families and patients being treated at the Southside campus of Brooks Rehabilitation.
Brooks Rehabilitation spokeswoman Jill Matejcek said the two-story project is named for the late Helen Brown, the wife of Brooks’ founder J. Brooks Brown. She died in December.
“Helen was a welcoming and gracious host who made employees and patients feel like they were a part of the Brooks family,” said Matejcek, manager of public and community relations.
“We are naming our family housing after her to honor her memory and legacy,” she said.
The project at 6207 Beach Blvd. is across Beach Boulevard from Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital.
The 38 furnished rooms, which each can accommodate up to three guests, are available for patients who travel to Jacksonville from outside Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties in Northeast Florida.
Brooks Rehabilitation is based at 3599 University Blvd. S., at southeast Beach and University boulevards.
Helen’s House is managed by Gabriel House of Care, a Jacksonville nonprofit that also provides lodging for transplant and cancer patients and their families at the Mayo Clinic campus at San Pablo Road and Butler Boulevard.
Detailed information is at brooksrehab.org/helens-house/.
Its “Community of Healing” concept is designed to help guests learn to better cope with difficult medical circumstances and stress.
It offers classes in mindfulness for stress management, tai chi, art therapy and a chef’s night program that involves community organizations and businesses providing dinner for the house guests.
At Helen’s House, the average length of stay will be three to 30 days. The cost is $50 for the first night and $40 a night after, although there is a scholarship program based on financial status. It is $80 for third-party payers.
It offers a large community kitchen for meal preparation and a large dining room.
Guests are responsible for buying and preparing their own food other than when community groups cook for the house. Guests are assigned pantry, refrigerator and freezer space in the fully equipped kitchen. Utensils, coffee and tea are provided.
Because the house is not a medical facility, no medical staff is on the premises. Patients must be accompanied by a caregiver at all times.
Each room has a queen-sized bed, a pullout sofa and a private ADA-compliant bathroom. There are no telephones or TVs in the guest rooms.
There will be TVs in the four community rooms at the end of each corridor, coin-operated laundry facilities on each floor, a business office, a fitness room and a community program room.
Guests are responsible for cleaning their own room. Cleaning supplies are provided. Linens are provided upon guest arrival and guests are responsible for laundering them during the stay.
A shuttle will provide transportation from the house to the Brooks campus.
A dozen project permits show a job cost totaling about $7.5 million for construction, signs, fire alarm and sprinkler systems, a roof system, mechanical equipment, fixtures and the sewer connection and electrical equipment.
Fickling Construction Inc. pulled a permit in December for construction of the building at a job cost of almost $5.5 million on 4.3 acres.
A permit application and plans show the 27,000-square-foot project is designed to encourage families to interact.
The first floor features suites, a large kitchen and dining center, two sitting areas, a den, a business center and a laundry facility.
The second floor features suites, two sitting areas, a laundry area and a workout center.
Brooks said 22 percent of its patients come from outside the Jacksonville area and the majority of those have suffered from a traumatic injury or illness.
