For more than 45 years, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California (RMHCSC) has grown its mission to provide comfort, care and support to children and families in Southern California who are facing a pediatric health crisis. RMHCSC’s programs across Southern California include:
• Six Ronald McDonald Houses, including Bakersfield, Inland Empire, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Orange County, and Pasadena.
• A new House opening in late 2024 or early 2025, walking distance to UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital and serving Westside Los Angeles.
• Three Ronald McDonald Family Rooms at CHOC Children’s Hospital in Orange, CHOC Children’s at Mission Hospital and Ventura County Medical Center.
• Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times (Camp), a year-round cost-free, medically-supervised camp for children with cancer and their families located in Mountain Center, near Idyllwild.
• Family Support Services (FSS), which provides resources and counseling to families who stay at a Ronald McDonald House and/ or attend Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times.
A LEGACY FOR GENERATIONS TO COME
The first Ronald McDonald House opened on October 15, 1974 in Philadelphia thanks to the vision and partnership of Dr. Audrey Evans of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Eagles’ player Fred Hill, whose daughter had leukemia, Philadelphia Eagles owner Leonard Tose and McDonald’s. The desire for a program that supported the unique needs of families with critically ill children quickly spread to other cities. The Southern California chapter of Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) began in 1977 with the planning of the region’s first Ronald McDonald House in Los Angeles blocks from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
REGIONAL IMPACT
Each year, more than 5,000 families find comfort and support at RMHCSC houses while their child is hospitalized; those families spend more than 55,000 nights with RMHCSC. Committed volunteers prepare more than 2,000 “Meals of Love” at the houses so that families receive nourishment and comfort in their time of crisis. More than 57,000 day visits are recorded annually at Ronald McDonald Family Rooms. In addition, Camp serves over 1,000 cancer-impacted children and their families each year. In addition, RMHCSC volunteers log more than 8,000 hours annually in their efforts to assist families inside local hospitals. The charity is finding new opportunities to partner with area hospitals and med- ical staff to coordinate the care and support offered to families. RMHCSC’s award-winning Family Support Services program recently launched an online community to help those that RMHCSC serves access vital resources and keep in touch after they check out of the programs.
THE “WHY”
Ronald McDonald Houses are a “homes-away-from-home” for families with critically-ill children, keeping them close to one another, their doctors, and needed medical care. The houses are built on the simple idea that noth- ing else should matter when a family is focused on the health of their child—not where they can afford to stay, where they will get their next meal, or where they will lay their head at night to rest. The cancer-impacted campers served by Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times participate in cost-free camp sessions that encompass social, educational, emotional and recreational opportunities that empower campers to reclaim their lives from childhood cancer.
MOVING FORWARD
Under the leadership of CEO Fatima Djelmane Rodriguez, RMHCSC is deepening and expanding its impact as a provider of family-centered care with an emphasis on building diversity, equity, and inclusion. And across the charity, staff and volunteers proudly contribute to cultivating an organization-wide culture of building connections with those RMHCSC serves.
Learn more at RMHCSC.org.
