Statements
Mission
The mission of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Nashville, Tennessee, Inc. (RMHC) is to keep families close by providing essential resources and a 'home-away-from-home' for families of critically ill children receiving inpatient or outpatient medical care at Nashville area hospitals.
Background
The Ronald McDonald House of Nashville has served more than 16,433 families in its 36-bedroom House since opening its doors in 1991. Their children were being treated for heart disease, premature birth, surgery and cancer. In 2023, the House had 308 family stays with a monthly occupancy of 65% and those stays averaged 21 nights. During those 308 family stays, 86.4% of families could not afford to donate anything for their stay at the House. We ask families to pay $15 per night to stay in our House, we never turn away families because of their inability to pay. We rely on the community to provide funds to underwrite this cost so that we can continue to welcome all families regardless of their ability to pay for a night's stay. We see our mission in action every day at the Ronald McDonald House. We offer the basic comforts of home like safe shelter, warm meals, and emotional support to families who are enduring a crisis while they are far away from home with limited resources and no other place to go. Many families who stay with us would otherwise be forced to sleep in a hospital waiting room, hallway, or even in their cars just to be close to their sick children. The Ronald McDonald House is a place that families can make their 'home-away-from-home' for a while, during a time of crisis. They can maintain a sense of normalcy by doing many of the same things they would do at home, like preparing meals, doing their own laundry, watching television together, playing games, and having a warm and safe place to sleep at night. Most importantly, they can keep their entire family together. The Ronald McDonald House is the only program in the Nashville area that provides a means for an entire family to stay. In addition to our House, we have a day-use Family Room located on the Pediatric Critical Care Unit floor of the Monroe Carell, Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. We provide families warm meals, snacks, drinks, and a place to escape momentarily to read a book or magazine, watch television, while renewing their strength to help their children get well. Anyone with a child receiving treatment at the children's hospital is eligible to visit the Family Room. The Ronald McDonald Family Room is a resource that is essential to helping families endure stressful and critical times and more than 437,000 individuals have visited the Family Room since it opened in 2004.
Impact
Programs run by Ronald McDonald House Charities of Nashville; the Ronald McDonald House served 308 families in 2023. In 2023, our 36-bedroom House operated at over 65% of capacity 365 days a year, and we consistently have a waiting list. We rely solely on the community to raise 100% of operating costs, as we receive no government funding, nor do we receive insurance reimbursement for lodging of families. While the actual cost to house a family is around $115 a night, families are asked to donate just $15 per night to stay at the Ronald McDonald House. Last year RMHC of Nashville absorbed $90,580 in uncollected room revenue. We work to create an environment that helps families to rest and rejuvenate so that they will be at their best to care for their sick children. We rely on the support of the community to fund our programs, and in the last year we have made marked progress in terms of developing new partnerships with corporations, organizations, and foundations as well as developing deeper relationships with our existing partners.
Needs
1. Funds to support our program expenses so that we can continue to serve families who are financially burdened by the medical crises their children are facing. 2. In-Kind donations of household goods such as individually wrapped snacks, pantry items, and cleaning supplies. 3. Groups to underwrite or provide meals for families staying at the Nashville Ronald McDonald House. 4. Increased awareness about our programs throughout the community.
CEO Statement
Every day at Ronald McDonald House Charities of Nashville we see our mission in action through the eyes of the families we serve who have a critically ill child receiving medical treatment at a Nashville area hospital. The families who come to stay with us arrive on our doorstep having often just received news that has changed their lives in an instant. You can go into the kitchen of our 36-bedroom House to get a cup of coffee and strike up a conversation with a family member who is struggling just to make it through another day. Every inch of our House is designed to make a family feel at home no matter how far away from their home they are. The support that families receive from each other, volunteers and staff is truly making our House and Family Room a 'home-away-from-home.'
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Human Services - Human Services |
| Secondary Category: | Human Services - Family Services |
| Tertiary Category: | Housing, Shelter - |
Areas Served
We provide a 'home-away-from-home' for families of critically ill children being treated at a Nashville area hospital. Because of the excellent level of care offered by hospitals in the Nashville area, we serve families from across the U.S. and around the world. We have served families from all 95 counties in Tennessee, 66 counties in Kentucky, 44 other states, 2 U.S. territories, and 14 foreign countries.
| National |
| International |
| TN - Davidson |
| TN |
| KY |
