Melinda McCarron needed help. With no place to stay and her son’s speech therapy in Boston looming, the Oak Bluffs native’s options dwindled. A call to Hospitality Homes changed everything.

Hospitality Homes offers free housing for people traveling to Boston for medical care. The Boston-based nonprofit accommodated the needs of three Martha’s Vineyard families requiring advanced medical procedures within the past year, including Melinda and her son Cody.

“It’s incredibly expensive to go to Boston and stay for a long period of time,” Hospitality Homes executive director Marianne Jones said during a recent visit to the Vineyard. “We offer an alternative housing option which is that we house people in other people’s private homes.”

Thirteen-year-old Cody McCarron suffered from a speech impediment that evolved into a stutter. He enrolled in an intensive, three-week speech pathology program at Emerson College. The program required classroom attendance in Boston from 8 am to 4 p.m.

“It was a matter of making sure I could coordinate with transportation to get him there, housing while we were there and all his other needs in Boston,” Melinda McCarron said. “We didn’t have any local families or any friends who were close enough to make it convenient.”

Harry and Kathy Keough opened their Quincy home to Melinda and her son after Hospitality Homes matched the two families. Kathy serves on the Hospitality Homes board of directors. And Cody never missed a speech class thanks to the local MBTA conveniently located a block away from the Keough’s home.

Nearly half the Hospitality Home clients seek pediatric care at Boston Children’s Hospital. The service also regularly houses families whose loved ones need care at Massachusetts General Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess, Brigham and Women’s and Mass. Eye and Ear and Dana-Farber.

The nonprofit began in 1983 when a group of social workers and community advocates noticed families making beds out of hospital closets and waiting room chairs.

“It’s important for the families to stay together when they’re going through something so difficult and they need the support of each other,” said Denise Duclose, director of engagement and outreach.

To qualify for the program, a family or individual must require active care 50 miles away from their permanent residence. An application process screens patient history to ensure no risk for the host family and requires a professional reference. Social workers, doctors, clergy and employers qualify as references.

“We house people anywhere from one night to three months. The average length of stay is two weeks,” Ms. Jones said.