How Ronald McDonald House offers a safe harbor for families with sick children

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How Ronald McDonald House offers a safe harbor for families with sick children

Step into one of the four connected homes near the University of Minnesota any evening, and you’ll usually find families eating in the dining room, volunteers serving food, kids playing video games and climbing into the child-sized castle, and parents trying to forget about their troubles for just a few hours in this home away from home.

The Ronald McDonald House on Oak Street in Minneapolis is one of the country’s larger Ronald McDonald Houses, serving families whose children are undergoing medical treatment at the university. The families come from all over the country—and the world—drawn by specialists at the University of Minnesota who are the best in their fields. Some parents and siblings stay at the house cost-free for weeks, and others live there for months and even years while their children and siblings battle cancer or undergo transplants. The house is one of five facilities operated by Ronald McDonald Houses Charities, Upper Midwest (RMHC-UM). Last year, the organization served 5,649 families, saving them about $7.5 million in out-of-pocket expenses for meals, lodging, essential supplies, parking, transportation, and more. Here, SafeRide Health highlights how these services support families whose children are impacted by serious illness.

As Jill Evenocheck, RMHC-UM president and CEO, explained, “A child’s serious illness is a worst-case scenario for families, often resulting in devastating emotional, financial, and physical consequences. By meeting basic needs and providing holistic, family-centered care, we mitigate the stressors faced by patient families, enabling them to engage more effectively with their child’s care team, support their other children, and attend to their own social, emotional, and financial needs.”

RMH-Oak Street in Minneapolis is particularly well-equipped, with a large commercial-grade kitchen, 48 private rooms or suites, an open gym, movie screening room, exercise room for adults, multiple lounge areas, play spaces, two playgrounds, large dining room, therapy dog (Bernie, a very sweet Bernedoodle), and even a K-12 school with a teacher, assistant teacher, afterschool program, and summer school. One recent day, six kids of all ages studied out of workbooks and learned together while their parents and siblings spent the day at the nearby hospital.

These resources are invaluable to families in need of a home away from home: “We felt significantly less stress while staying there,” a parent noted after their stay. “The meals were convenient, easy, and delicious. In a time when we as parents forget to take care of ourselves while taking care of our sick children, RMH truly supported our mental and physical health.”

Stability and Rest During a Very Stressful Time

Based in suburban Chicago, Ronald McDonald House Charities has 260 chapters worldwide, including 66 in the United States, each with its own houses or hospital spaces that offer an escape for families going through the worst. When families have access to a Ronald McDonald House program, they report numerous benefits: better sleep and state of mind, more positive hospital experiences, and a better chance to participate in their child’s care. In fact, research has shown that patients whose families stayed in an RHM are the sickest, traveled the farthest, and spent the longest time in the hospital, according to RMH Charities.

Those facts are borne out in the feedback they get from the families who stay there. “RMH was a tremendous blessing to my wife and me while our newborn was in the NICU,” another grateful parent said. “There were so many stressful days, and when everything seemed to be going wrong, they provided us with care, rest, and a reminder that we were going to be okay.”

A Support Network Borne Out of Necessity

Ronald McDonald House Charities was founded in 1974 when Kim Hill, the daughter of Philadelphia Eagles player Fred Hill, was diagnosed with leukemia, and her family saw a need for a place to support families going through similar journeys. Fred Hill worked with Dr. Audrey Evans to found RMHC, and 11 houses were launched by 1979. Today, RMHC has more than 1,000 programs in 62 countries, ranging from houses like the Oak Street location in Minneapolis and family rooms inside hospitals to a mobile program in Indonesia and cancer detection education programs in Brazil and Poland.

The houses are not owned or operated by McDonald’s, but the restaurant franchises, employees, suppliers, and customers generously contribute to the nonprofit, both with funds and with donations of food. In 2024, more than $211 million was donated to RMHC by McDonald’s.

Partners in Care for Families on the Road

In addition to McDonald’s franchises, numerous companies support the nonprofit with donations and volunteers, including the Coca-Cola Company, Tempur Sealy International, and AbbVie, which donated a historic $100 million in 2018, enabling an additional 240,000 overnight stays each year.

Ronald McDonald Houses are also an integral part of some non-emergency transportation (NEMT) programs for more complex cases. While NEMT typically involves transportation via traditional vehicle or wheelchair van to and from a healthcare appointment, some patients need out-of-state transportation and lodging for longer-term medical treatment. That’s where Ronald McDonald Houses come in: NEMT companies can work with patients, RMH chapters around the country, and Medicaid Managed Care Organizations to arrange for children’s families to stay there for free for the duration of their treatment. Customer service representatives are specially trained to handle the logistics and complexities of these cases, ensuring that each family gets the care and attention they need.

For families that are managing complicated medical procedures during the holidays, the care and support provided by Ronald McDonald Houses can make all the difference in the world.

This story was produced by SafeRide Health and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.