Ronald McDonald House Charities Northern Nevada

The Reno Ronald McDonald House:The Ronald McDonald House offers a home-away-from-home to families with ill or injured children so they can be close to their hospitalized child. Here, families find support, care, understanding and compassion from staff, volunteers and other families staying in the house.Our house is built on the simple idea that nothing else should matter when a family is focused on healing their child; not where they can afford to stay, where they will get their next meal or how they will get through the day. We have 13 bedrooms, each with a private bath. The house has a double kitchen, a dining room, living room, play room, laundry room and an outside play area to accommodate our families.In 2022, COVID related restrictions were lifted and the Ronald McDonald House was fully operational. Lodging was provided to 203 families with a length of stay totaling 1,900 nights. Of these families, 190 had hospitalized children, 13 were families with outpatient treatment.

The Ronald McDonald Family Room:The Ronald McDonald family room at Renown Children's Hospital opened in February 2012. It offers a place of respite to families with children in the hospital so they can rest and recoup to be a better support system for their children.The 548 square foot room is located on the 4th floor of Renown Children's Hospital, at the entrance to the new pediatric and pediatric intensive care units. The room features a small kitchen, a dining area, a living room with comfortable seating for up to 11 people and a resource center with internet access. In addition, a small sleep room is located at the entrance to the pediatric intensive care unit, giving families the opportunity to sleep while still enabling them to be close to their child.In 2022, as additional COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, RMHCNN was able to establish a more regular schedule as we re-engaged volunteers and trained staff to manage the Family Room. The Family Room was open Monday-Friday, 9am 5pm and served 219 families with children in Renown Children's Hospital NICU and PICU.

The RMHC Scholarship Program:The RMHC U.S. Scholarship Program awards scholarships to students from Northern Nevada every year. In 2022, 34 students received scholarships, valued at $500 and $1,000 per student, per year. Occasionally scholarships are partially returned if the student does not meet the requirements or does not continue their education.

The Ronald McDonald Care Mobile:The Ronald McDonald Care Mobile delivers basic medical and dental care along with health education to children under 5 and pregnant women in Washoe County. The Ronald McDonald Care Mobile has helped improve the health and well being of thousands of children in our area since its inception in 2003. All clinical and educational services performed on the state-of-the-art vehicle are coordinated and administered by Community Health Alliance.Together we deliver services that go beyond treatment; reduce the reliance on emergency rooms, heighten awareness of healthy lifestyles, and help eligible families obtain government assisted health insurance.In 2022, through the partnership with Community Health Alliance, 1,336 appointments were completed at 5 unique locations. 55 of the 1336 appointments were for dental treatment and 1,281 were for medical treatments and health education.The Travel for Treatment Program:Children from Northern Nevada who need specialized medical care often have to travel out of the area for treatment. The Travel for Treatment program provides travel and lodging assistance to families so their children can get the medical care they need. This includes making travel arrangements, providing gas cards and purchasing airline tickets.Having a child who is seriously ill places an extreme financial burden on parents; when specialized medical care is hundreds of miles away the burden is compounded. The most common form of support is providing gas cards to Reno/Sparks families who travel to the Bay Area for their child's specialized medical care. The Program also provides travel funds to families that live in the rural areas of Northern Nevada so their children can travel to Reno for medical treatment. In July 2022, the Travel for Treatment program was reinstated and helped 9 families travel to specialty hospitals for treatment that could not be provided in Northern Nevada.