The Ronald McDonald House in St. Louis started over 40 years ago with an eight-bedroom facility to house families of seriously ill children as they were being treated. That has now grown to include eight houses and three extended-stay apartments — and the demand has not diminished. So Friday morning, they are breaking ground for a new house in Forest Park Southeast.
Dan Harbaugh, president of Ronald McDonald House Charities of St. Louis, joined KMOX in studio to tell us more.
“Right now we have 39 bedrooms in the city of St. Louis. And almost every single night, all of those bedrooms are occupied,” Harbaugh said. “And we have a waiting list of 20 to 25 families every night. So the new house will be a 72 bedroom house. So we should be able to take care of our waiting list.”
The new space will be different from the old ones, he explained, with a community space that allows for support between the families staying there.
“The other families become their family, friends and support systems,” he said. “So we're going to actually have a commercial kitchen in this facility, a lot of play rooms, a lot of TV rooms, but each family will have their own suite.”
Secure housing is crucial for families in these situations, Harbaugh explained. Since it’s only$5 a night for families to stay, families who are worried about medical expenses don’t have to splurge on housing — but they can still be close by.xcd
“Children heal at a faster rate when they know mom and dad are close by, when their family is near them and being taken care of,” Harbaugh said. “Our global organization did a study on this several years ago, and it was really significant how much it expedited the healing process for the kids when they knew mom and dad were taken care of.”
Hear more about the new Ronald McDonald House coming to St. Louis:
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