Ronald McDonald House Charities of Northeast Ohio
Keeping families close®
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Ronald McDonald House
The Ronald McDonald House (RMH) provides a home-away-from-home for families who are facing one of the most difficult times in their lives —the illness of their child. RMH provides these families with more than just a comfortable bed and hot meat – they find support, compassion and understanding. RMH is staffed 24 hours a day and volunteers are available from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day of the year. Many amenities are available for the families at RMH and play areas are provided so that the healthy siblings and children receiving outpatient care can lead as normal a life as possible. This past year, 1,263 families stayed at the House, and the average length of stay was 20 nights. Of the families staying at the House, 45% were from Ohio, 51% were from other states and 4% were International.
Families staying at the House are asked for a $20 per night donation to cover a portion of the actual $80 per room per night operating cost. This not only includes the comfortable and private room, but also meals, activities, and tickets to area attractions that are donated by the community; computers to keep in touch with family and friends and to research their child’s illness; an indoor recreation area and outdoor gardens to help families relax; laundry facilities available free of charge; and a supportive group of staff and volunteers who help these families through their challenges. No family is ever turned away due to inability to pay, and often the suggested donation is reduced or waived in cases of financial hardship. Approximately half of the families staying at the House cannot afford the room donation, resulting in almost $136,000 in forgiven room payments.
In 2017, the RMH Rise & Dine program was introduced. Instead of groups planning their meals and purchase the ingredients, they are given the option to donate $400 and have a local chef plan the meal and purchase the ingredients. The group works with the chef to prepare a nice, healthy meal for the families. It becomes a mini cooking lesson for the group and provides an upscale meal for the families.
In order to keep pace with the increased demand for RMH services and answering the needs of families, RMH successfully completed a $12 million capital campaign to expand and renovate the facility. In addition to the individual, foundation, and corporate support, RMH strategically integrated New Market Tax Credits into the financing of the Capital Campaign, the first RMH in the country to ever receive this type of funding. The ribbon was cut on the new addition and renovation on November 15, 2013, increasing the number of available rooms from 37 to 55.
Ronald McDonald Family Rooms
The Ronald McDonald Family Room program allows RMH to serve families while they are at the hospital, enabling them to stay close to their child’s bedside. Staffed by volunteers from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week, the Family Room provides families at the hospital with a warm comfortable atmosphere where they can have a brief respite from the clinical hospital environment. In 2006, RMH opened the first Ronald McDonald Family Room in Ohio at University Hospital’s Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital. In 2008, RMH opened the second Family Room at the Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital, followed by Cleveland Clinic Fairview in 2009, and MetroHealth Medical Center in 2010. In order to accommodate the demand for a place for a parent to stay close to their child at Cleveland Clinic Fairview, RMH added two overnight respite rooms to the Family Room. RMH anticipates opening four respite rooms at MetroHealth in 2018.
This past year, almost 80,000 visitors made use of the amenities offered in our Family Rooms including the respite rooms, a lounge area, kitchen with light refreshments, laundry facilities, computer with internet access, children’s play area, and shower facilities, or were served by the RMH Happy Wheels Cart which is taken directly to patient’s rooms.
amenities offered in our Family Rooms including the respite rooms, a lounge area, kitchen with light refreshments, laundry facilities, computer with internet access, children’s play area, and shower facilities, or were served by the RMH Happy Wheels Cart which is taken directly to patient’s rooms.
Red Treehouse
Formerly known as Tools for Today and Tomorrow, RedTreehouse.org, was created in 2004 based on feedback from families staying at the House. Families stated that they felt comfortable while at the House because RMH staff and volunteers could point them in the direction of resources that could benefit them. When they left the House, this safety net of support was gone and the families had a difficult time finding the resources available to them. RMH formed a partnership with 8 local organizations that support families with a child who has a disability or chronic illness. By 2010, this network had grown from 8 founding organizations to 40 partners.
The purpose of RedTreehouse.org is to provide information and resources that can help families with their challenging journey. This is accomplished through a website that serves as a clearinghouse for hundreds of valuable resources, a listing of support groups throughout the area, and a web-based community calendar with information on educational workshops. Educational webinars will be added in 2018. In 2017, RedTreehouse.org served over 32,000 visitors to the website.
Ronald McDonald STAR Center
The STAR Center provides Support, Teaching, Awareness and Resources to Families Receiving Medical Care at an Outpatient facility.
University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital (RBC) and Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital (CCCH) are both creating new, centralized outpatient Community Medical Centers to that will be accessible to lower income families. These new Medical Centers will open in 2018 and will improve access to quality health care for residents of Cleveland and surrounding communities, and will house innovative programs for pediatric primary care, women’s health care, and social services as well as education programs to support patients, their families and the community. RedTreehouse.org will be one of the resources promoted at these new facilities.
The Ronald McDonald STAR Center will be an extension of the Ronald McDonald Family Room program and will be located within these new Community Medical Centers. The rooms will provide a fun, colorful, welcoming environment and an educational place for children while their sibling receives outpatient treatment or their mother receives prenatal care. The non-clinical RMH staff will work with the children on age appropriate mini-lessons in healthy habits and positive well-being. Lessons will be posted as a resource on the RedTreehouse.org website.
The STAR Center will allow the child’s parent can focus their attention on their sibling who needs treatment, or on critical information about their own health and the health of their unborn baby. Without this option, parents may not bring their child in for treatment, or they may not come for prenatal care, because they do not have someone to watch the children. Babies of mothers who do not get prenatal care are three times more likely to have a low birth weight and five times more likely to die than those born to mothers who do get care. Inadequate prenatal care is associated with Low Birth Weight, Teen Birth Rates, Health Insurance Coverage, and School Readiness. The new STAR Center will help prevent one of the roadblocks to mother’s receiving prenatal care and siblings receiving outpatient treatment.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
Affiliate/Chapter of National Organization (i.e. Girl Scouts of the USA, American Red Cross, etc.) - Affiliate/chapter 1979
External reviews

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Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Ronald McDonald House Charities of Northeast Ohio
Board of directorsas of 3/17/2021
Mr. Fritz Berckmueller
Partner, Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP
Term: 2020 - 2023
Ronald Kahn
Ulmer & Berne
Keith Strauss
Sales Concepts
Michael Novak
Wellsprings Financial Advisors
Marguerite Walz
HR Consultant
Sanjay Ahuja
University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital
Salvatore Mileti
Ernst & Young
Louis Bennett
Stark & Knoll Co., L.P.A.
Nick Fanous
Newman & Co. CPA's
Kevin Ryan
Key Bank
Tom Charek
Charek Development
Barry Hollis
PNC Bank, N.A.
Janis Worley
First Congregational Church of Akron
Jeananne Chadsey
Ohio Secretary of State
Tom Locke
Tomtreyco, Inc.
John Perdue
McDonalds Owner/Operator
Trina Bediako
New Horizons Baking Co.
Michelle Marks
Cleveland Clinic Children's
Craig Richmond
The MetroHealth System
Jeff Hord
Akron Children's Hospital
Kim McFarlane
Jones Day
Cate Donovan
The Sherwin-Williams Company
Kevin Myeroff
NCA Financial Planners
Kristin Susick
First Energy Corp.
John Williams
Alpha Phi Alpha Homes
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
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Race & ethnicity
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Gender identity
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Disability
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