Kevin Guest House is America’s first independent healthcare hospitality house. Since 1972, we have provided a comfortable and supportive home-away-from- home for patients and families traveling to receive state of the art health care and treatment in Buffalo area hospitals and medical centers.
Three homes, comprising eleven bedrooms, five bathrooms and various dining and living common areas, provide sanctuary for those in need of affordable shelter during medical crises. Over 54,000 guests have stayed at Kevin Guest House since its inception, mostly originating from Western New York, but also including guests from 49 states, Canada, and eleven other countries.
Kevin Guest House was founded by Claudia and Cyril Garvey, whose son, Kevin Garvey, passed away in January 1972 at the age of 13 after an eighteen month fight against leukemia. During his treatment at Roswell Park Memorial Hospital, the Garveys became aware of many other families, traveling for the care of a child, that were unable to find affordable lodging. Shortly before Kevin’s death, Mr. and Mrs. Garvey purchased the property located at 782 Ellicott Street, formed a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and with the help of Roswell Park, renovated the house with the support of volunteers and donations from the community. Kevin Guest House welcomed their first guest on July 26, 1972; just six months after Kevin lost his battle.
In addition to our main house, we offer four transplant recovery apartments, the only of their kind in Buffalo, for patients and their caregivers. These fully functional apartments allow blood & marrow and other transplant patients an environmentally safe place to recover that is within the required distance to their medical facility. In many cases these patients are required to stay 100 days or more within 30 minutes of their medical facility for monitoring and testing.
With the help of our generous community of donors and supporters, we are able to continue our mission of serving those in need.