Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Michael P. Callagy, County Executive
Subject: Authorization of a Grant Agreement with American Cancer Society for the Bay Area Hope Lodge
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution:
A) Authorizing an allocation of grant funds to the American Cancer Society, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $7,000,000 ($3,500,000 in FY 2026-27 and $3,500,000 in FY 2027-28) to support construction of the Bay Area Hope Lodge in San Mateo County; and
B) Authorizing and directing the County Executive, or designee(s), in consultation with the County Attorney, to negotiate and execute a grant agreement with the American Cancer Society, Inc. to support construction of the Bay Area Hope Lodge in San Mateo County in an amount not to exceed $7,000,000.
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BACKGROUND:
Each year in the United States, 200,000 people travel more than forty miles to receive the cancer treatment they desperately need, and this number is growing. With a typical cancer regimen of surgery and radiation lasting six to eight weeks, travel often skyrockets the cost of care. Lodging costs alone for such treatment can be up to $17,000.
Thus, for thousands of families, a cancer diagnosis means choosing between traveling far from home for the best available treatment and staying close to home so they can afford a place to sleep. The American Cancer Society (ACS) Hope Lodge provides free housing to cancer patients and their caregivers who travel to receive treatment. Since 1970, ACS Hope Lodge communities have supported thousands of patients who face the dual burden of a cancer diagnosis and the financial and logistical challenge of securing extended lodging away from home.
Hope Lodge facilities offer ADA-accessible guest suites with private bathrooms, fully equipped kitchens, dining rooms, common lounges, laundry facilities, libraries, fitness centers, and outdoor healing gardens. Additionally, ACS will provide patients staying at Hope Lodge with free treatment related travel.
Hope Lodge provides approximately 500,000 nights of free lodging annually to roughly 36,000 cancer patients in communities across 23 states and Puerto Rico. However, there are currently no Hope Lodge facilities on the West Coast, which means that for the thousands of patients each year, housing and support that is free, safe, and close to care remains out of reach.
Indeed, within the Bay Area, an average of 47% of patients travel more than 40 miles to access treatment, while approximately 6,000 patients travel across the country every year to access cancer care in the Bay Area. With cancer incidence rates increasing regionally (see National Cancer Institute: State Cancer Profiles > Incidence Rates Table by County <https://statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov/incidencerates/index.php?statefips=06&areatype=county&cancer=001&race=00&sex=0&age=001&ruralurban=0&type=incd&sortVariableName=rate&sortOrder=default&output=0>) demand for supportive lodging is expected to continue to grow.
DISCUSSION:
ACS has identified San Mateo County as an ideal location for California's first Hope Lodge. San Mateo County sits within close proximity to multiple nationally recognized cancer treatment centers, including Stanford Cancer Institute, the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Dorothy Schneider Cancer Center at Mills-Peninsula Medical Center, and Kaiser Permanente medical centers in Redwood City and South San Francisco. Stanford Medicine is also currently exploring the development of a new cancer center in Redwood City, which would further strengthen the region's role as a destination for world-class cancer care.
The proposed San Mateo County location, with 70 guest suites, would be the largest Hope Lodge in the country, and provide support that addresses, among other things, patients’ nutrition, physical activity, social connection, and stress management needs. The Bay Area Hope Lodge is projected to provide, on an annual basis, more than 43,000 nights of free lodging and wrap-around services for patients. The state-of-the-art Hope Lodge would also be among the first in the country to include a dedicated Cancer Wellness Hub open to the broader community through a program that will provide support services to those impacted by cancer.
The proposed allocation of grant funds totaling $7,000,000-$3,500,000 in FY 2026-27 and $3,500,000 in FY 2027-28-would contribute to ACS's broader $150 million fundraising effort to finance the construction of the Bay Area Hope Lodge.
The County Executive, or designee, working in consultation with the County Attorney, would negotiate a grant agreement with ACS in an amount not to exceed the County’s $7,000,000 allocation. The grant agreement would make clear that the County’s contribution is contingent upon ACS raising sufficient additional funds to complete the Bay Area Hope Lodge project (in other words, the County’s grant funds would be returned should ACS be unable to raise sufficient funds) and that the Hope Lodge is located in San Mateo County. Once the grant agreement is finalized, the County Executive's Office would administer and manage the grant.
COMMUNITY IMPACT:
The County’s contribution to the Bay Area Hope Lodge will help to ensure that patients and families of all income levels are able to access the lifesaving cancer care and support they need and deserve.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The County’s $7,000,000 grant to ACS will be funded through one-time General Fund monies, with disbursements subject to ACS’s successful completion of its fundraising efforts. The first tranche of $3,500,000 will be appropriated in the adopted Fiscal Year 2026-27 budget, which will return to the Board in September 2026. The second tranche of $3,500,000 will be included in the recommended Fiscal Year 2027-28 budget.