Philadelphia Ronald Mcdonald House Inc

Programs: House program - our two ronald mcdonald houses, together serving up to 65 families each night, offer holistic support and lodging to families traveling 25 miles or further to philadelphia to receive medical care for their seriously ill children. Founded as the first ronald mcdonald house in the world, we are the model for more than 338 houses in 35 countries around the globe and have supported thousands of families in our 40 years of operation. Since opening, our first house, located at 3925 chestnut street, has grown to 72,000 square feet to accommodate a total of 45 families each night; in 2008, we opened a second 27,000 square-foot, three-story home with 20 bedrooms located at 100 e. Erie avenue to meet the expanding need for our services throughout the city of philadelphia. Our houses offer families a comfortable and secure room, daily home-cooked meals, a 24-hour food pantry, complimentary vans to the hospital, free parking, and laundry facilities-all just minutes from the hospital. They also offer tv lounges, indoor and outdoor play spaces, exercise rooms, family activities, loaner laptop computers and wifi. Additionally, our houses offer social worker assistance and the support of other families who understand what it is like to have a seriously ill child. While it costs the philadelphia ronald mcdonald house more than $103 per night to provide these services, families are asked to pay $15 per night. However, more than half of the families we serve are so financially devastated by their child's illness (as a result of treatment costs, job loss or leave, traveling, and paying expenses at home) that their fee is waived or reduced; no one is ever turned away due to inability to pay. Families traveling from 25 miles away or further for medical care at philadelphia hospitals are eligible to stay at our houses, and children must be under the age of 22 and in active treatment. In 2014, our two houses combined had 2,194 family stays with families traveling from 44 states, 2 u. S. Territories and 18 countries; 35% of families traveled from within pennsylvania. The average length of stay was 9. 87 days, with the longest length of stay for one family totaling 365 consecutive days. Our average occupancy rate was 93%. While we serve families whose children are being treated for an array of illnesses, the top service departments in 2014 were orthopedics, oncology, and cardiology. Each year, our hospital partners include the children's hospital of philadelphia, shriners hospital, st. Christopher's hospital for children, wills eye hospital, the hospital of the university of pennsylvania, jefferson hospital, hahnemann university hospital, temple university hospital, and pennsylvania hospital. Volunteers are truly the heart of our houses and we rely on the dedicated service of our more than 330 volunteers to create a home for the families we serve. Volunteers staff our front desk, check in families, drive our shuttle vans, and support our operations in a variety of other capacities. In 2013, volunteers contributed more than 27,000 hours of their time, representing the equivalent of 13 full-time staff positions.

camp program - every august, our one-week ronald mcdonald camp enables children with cancer and their siblings to experience the joys of summer camp. Created by philadelphia ronald mcdonald house co-founder dr. Audrey e. Evans in 1986, our camp was one of the very first of its kind to offer a camp experience specifically designed for children with cancer and their siblings. Ronald mcdonald camp, located in the pocono mountains of pennsylvania, includes all of the activities found at a traditiona

family room program - our two ronald mcdonald family rooms extend the comfort and support of our houses into the hospital by offering quiet respite spaces away from the bedside for families whose children are receiving treatment on the cardiology and oncology floors at the children's hospital of philadelphia. Our first family room on the oncology unit opened in 2006 and was followed by the family room on the cardiac unit in 2008. Both rooms are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week including ho