In my 34th week of pregnancy, my husband and I were told that our daughter may possibly be born with a life threatening birth defect, Esophageal Atresia/TracheoEsophageal Fistula (EA/TEF), that would require immediate surgery to survive. Although we were told there was this chance, we were not prepared for what was to come. We were not prepared for our daughter to remain in the hospital, far from our home, for more than 6 weeks after she was born to recover from surgery. The Ronald McDonald House of Washington D.C. was there for us during this time and we truly don't know what we would have done without them. We were able to get a room in the house within a couple of days of contacting them and were allowed to stay as long as we needed to while our daughter recovered in the hospital. We were given all that we needed to stay there - toiletries, sheets, food, etc. - which alleviated any extra stress that may have come from being away from home for so long. We were truly amazed everyday by what was offered to us by this wonderful charity. We were amazed so much so that we continue to spread the word of just how great they are for families. We hold an annual charity concert to raise money for the house, we speak at various area schools about the Ronald McDonald House to raise awareness, and we encourage schools and our jobs to collect pull tabs to raise money for the house. We had such a great experience with the Ronald McDonald House in DC that they will forever hold a place in our hearts and will always be remembered as our "home away from home".
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- EIN 52-1132262
- info@rmhcdc.com
- 2025298204
- 3727 14th Street, NE Washington DC 20017 USA
- www.rmhcdc.org
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Nonprofit Overview
Causes: Children & Youth, Children & Youth Services, Health, Human Services, Patient & Family Support
Mission: Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Greater Washington, DC (RMHCDC) eases the hardship of children’s illness on families through programs that directly improve the health and wellbeing of children.
Results: Over the the last four decades, RMHCDC has grown exponentially to better serve the needs of families who come to us for assistance. Starting with one 16-bedroom house in 1980, we have since expanded our services to include two Ronald McDonald House programs with a total of 32 bedrooms, three Ronald McDonald Family Rooms, and two Ronald McDonald Care Mobiles serving families and children in the District, Maryland and Virginia. Through these three core programs, we help close to 11,000 children and their families annually. Even with this progress, every year we are unable to provide aid to a growing number of families, due to our facilities’ limited capacity. Our Ronald McDonald Houses have been forced to turn away 168 families because of a shortage of rooms. And the demand for rooms is only increasing. Newly opened oncology treatment units and the creation of specialized disease centers at major area hospitals will cause a rapid influx of families in need to our Ronald McDonald Houses over the next 2-3 years. To serve this growing population, we renovated our Ronald McDonald House of Washington, DC to add 6 more guestrooms and are currently under construction at our Ronald McDonald House of Northern Virginia to add 16 more guestrooms. This $5+ million project will better position us to help the 33% of families on our wait lists we are not currently able to accommodate. Learn more at www.rmhcdc.org/40years.
Target demographics: ease the hardship of children's illness on families and children.
Direct beneficiaries per year: 2,696 children were served across our core programs.
Geographic areas served: Parts of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and all of D.C.
Programs: Ronald McDonald House: RMHCDC operates two House programs, one in DC and the other in Northern Virginia. The House programs provide a "home-away-from-home" for families of seriously ill or injured children who have traveled to this area to receive treatment at local hospitals. Ronald McDonald Care Mobile: Operated in partnership with Georgetown University Hospital, two programs serve DC Wards 5-8. One, a medical clinic on wheels providing care to under-served children; the second, a FITNESS (Fun In Teaching Nutrition and Exercise to Successful Students) Program partnering with local schools to deliver a curriculum focused on healthy eating and physical activity. Through these core programs, we help close to 11,000 children and their families annually.